Muttemwar meets PM, presses for separate Vidarbha

Amid the Centre's move to initiate the process for creation of Telengana state, the demand for statehood to Vidarbha in Maharashtra gained momentum as former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded a separate state for the region.

Amid the Centre's move to initiate the process for creation of Telengana state, the demand for statehood to Vidarbha in Maharashtra gained momentum as former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded a separate state for the region.

HT Image

Muttemwar, senior Congress MP from in Nagpur and protagonist of statehood campaign for Vidarbha, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to take steps for creation of separate Vidarbha.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Muttemwar said people of Vidarbha have been peacefully demanding statehood to Vidarbha region since long. The region has great potential and was economically viable, he said.

The proposal for creation of separate Vidarbha has been studied by many committees from time to time, Muttemwar said while thanking him for settling the Telangana issue once for all and agreed for separate Telangana state.

"I feel the time has come to respect the aspirations of the people of Vidarbha by carving out separate Vidarbha out of existing state of Maharashtra," Muttemwar said in his letter, a copy of which was released to press here today.