CM and I are for a separate Vidarbha state, says Gadkari

Gadkari said the BJP had always been in favour of smaller states and had created three news ones — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarkhand — when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minster.

Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to get the Shiv Sena to support it in the Maharashtra government, Union minister for transport and shipping Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said he and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis supported the stand for a separate Vidarbha.

The Sena, however, is opposed to the idea of carving out a separate state.

Sharing a dais with former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan during a programme on politics of development in Nagpur, Gadkari said his party had made a promise that if it was voted to power in Maharashtra, it would create a separate Vidarbha. “The question on going back on the assurance does not arise,” he said.

Gadkari said the BJP had always been in favour of smaller states and had created three news ones — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarkhand — when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minster. “My party also played a crucial role in the creation of Telangana,” he claimed.

The Union minister, who represents Nagpur in the Lok Sabha, even sought the Congress’ support. “The Congress should support us when two-third majority is required in the Parliament for the proposal,” he said.

While Chavan neither supported nor opposed the demand, he said the decision should be based on what the people of the region want.

Chavan, meanwhile, said the younger generation had voted out the Congress-NCP because of “false propaganda” on corruption.