Union Minister Athawale raises pitch for Vidarbha state

Hyderabad, Sep 7 Raising the pitch for carving out Vidarbha state, Union minister Ramdas Athawale today said ample opportunity has already past that the BJP takes a call on the issue as it is in control in Maharashtra and at the Center.

Athawale, who is the head of Republican Party of India (A), said that the people of Vidarbha district need a different state.

"The BJP had been supporting a different Vidarbha state since long. Presently the BJP is in control in Maharashtra and furthermore at the Center. From RPI(A) we might want to tell that (it is) the BJP (which) has been supportive of littler states," Athawale told reporters here.

"Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has not said no on this matter (statehood to Vidarbha). Just Shiv Sena is against this. Every single other parties support it," he said.

"A decision must be taken, the way (a decision was taken) before, under the National Democratic Alliance government, the decision was taken for making of three new states - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand," the clergyman of state for social justice and strengthening said.

He said the BJP has since long been pushing for a different Vidarbha, notwithstanding when it was in the opposition.

"We are likewise supporting the demand for the development of Vidarbha state and we appeal the central government to carve out a different Vidarbha," he said.

Much the same as the different Telangana state was shaped, a different Vidarbha state ought to likewise be cut out of Maharashtra. The people from Vidarbha district too need a different state, Athawale said.