Opposed to separate Marathwada: Maharashtra BJP chief

The Bharatiya Janata Party supported a separate Vidarbha but not Marathwada, Maharashtra BJP president Raosabheb Danve said today.

“BJP has been demanding a separate Vidarbha for the past many years, but is opposed to a separate Marathwada,” Danve told reporters.

BJP supports creation of small states. During the regime of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the party had formed Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, carved out of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, he said.

Danve said the erstwhile UPA government formed a separate Telangana state (out of Andhra Pradesh) due to “political view” of the Congress party.

A row was sparked after Maharashtra Advocate General Shreehari Aney called for separate statehoods for Vidarbha and Marathwada regions in the state.

He had later resigned over the row but ruled out any apology asserting that he stood by his view.