After Telangana, the clamour for a separate Vidarbha state has caused rift within the Congress in Maharashtra. Party MP Vilas Muttemwar has alleged that Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde has misled the country over the issue.
He has also written a letter to the home minister questioning his claim that Telangana’s case was more deserving.
“The reported statement of yours that Telangana’s case was considered because it was older and more deserving than Vidarbha…has hurt feelings of people of Vidarbha,” Mr Muttemwar wrote in his letter.
The copy of the letter, which was also released to the media, is being seen as an open show of displeasure, over the party’s decision in resolving the Telangana issue, while ignoring Vidarbha.
Mr Muttemwar reminded that Justice Fazal Ali’s state reorganisation committee, set up in 1953, had said that Vidarbha’s case was fit for separate state with surplus and stable revenue. The letter notes that the committee went further to caution against succumbing to pressure to be part of united Maharashtra.
“Either your officials have kept you in the dark or you have deliberately chosen to ignore the solid documentary evidence that shows that the demand for Vidarbha state was much older and more rooted,” Mr Muttemwar said.
He also criticised Mr Shinde for not doing anything for the Vidarbha region, while he was chief minister. “You served as chief minister in the state and were also at an important ministerial position, but it is unfortunate that you did little for the backward region of Vidarbha,” Mr Muttemwar wrote.
He went on to say, “Now, when you are in an influential position, instead of trying to make amends and help the region, you have again worked against its interests.”
Mr Muttemwar, a seven-time MP from the Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency, has constantly raised the demand for a separate Vidarbha state.