Vidarbha Rajya Aandolan Samiti (VRAS), which is spearheading a movement for statehood for Vidarbha, will stage a day-long dharna at Jantar Mantar here on March 31, demanding creation of a separate state bifurcating Maharashtra.
Former legislator and VRAS core committee member Wamanrao Chatap said that BJP leaders, including Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, had promised during campaign for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls that their party would create a separate Vidarbha state, if voted to power.
"So we now want them to fulfil their promises. We also want to draw the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to our demands and the problems faced by the people of Vidarbha and we will continue to put pressure on the government through agitations till our demand is met," said Chatap.
"We also want to ask the Prime Minister when the problems of the Vidarbha people will be solved. When will you give statehood, when will Swaminathan Commission report be implemented, when will you free farmers of the loan burden, when will you end load-shedding in farms, when will you reduce power rates and when will 4 lakh youths of Vidarbha get jobs?" he said.
VRAS convener Ram Neole said "in the unfolding development process in India, small states are performing better. Vidarbha's forests, mineral resources, water resources, its central location hold a high promise of a viable, self-reliant state. Also, power generation in the state is concentrated in Vidarbha."
"This can be only realised if the decision making process is handed over to the people, by forming a separate state," he said.
