Other States - Maharashtra   

A climb-down by Vidarbha Congressmen?

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI DEC. 27. Congressmen from the Vidarbha region instead of pressing the demand for a separate state through a legislative resolution seem to have settled for including the issue in the manifesto for the next election. Even here, the party bosses have not obliged them and put the issue on hold.

On the other hand, the Sharad Joshi-led Shetkatri Sanghatana and its political arm, the Swatantra Bharat Paksh, in collaboration with the newly-formed Vidarbha Rajya Party have taken the issue to the streets. They have started preventing the flow of coal from the region's pitheads.

This agitation, launched on December 25 and which will continue till the New Year, is making headlines in the north eastern region of the State. This has successfully taken the platform away from high-profile Congressmen who are seen as "token pro-Vidarbha.''

In retrospect, the indefinite fast on December 12 by the two veteran Congressmen, N.K.P. Salve and Vasant Sathe, is seen as more as an attempt to regain their credibility among partymen because they had earlier in August quit the party and, inexplicably, returned to it. When the Congress(I) bosses declined to accommodate a resolution in the Legislature favouring statehood for Vidarbha, they undertook the fast. Many did not turn up then at the venue of the fast as they dubbed it "a gimmick.''

The Joshi-Ambedkar-Purohit trio expect to make this an issue right through the next elections to be held in a few months and show that Vidarbha is only a convenient platform when there are internal party issues to be settled and not a genuine regional concern for the two leaders. Congressmen, party sources admit, are not prepared to allow statehood for Vidarbha due to the combination of the Western Maharashtra ire and Shiv Sena's fiercer opposition to bifurcate the State. The Sena has made no secret of its passion for a unified, single Marathi State continuing. But Mr. Sharad Joshi counters: each State should have a single common language.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• A climb-down by Vidarbha Congressmen?

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu