Mumbai: Under fire from opponents for alleged double-speak on Vidarbha statehood demand, Maharashtra BJP president Devendra Fadnavis has said the issue has never been a part of their manifesto, as creation of states is under the Centre's jurisdiction.

"Our party's central manifesto has a mention of creation of smaller states to be good administrative models. We believe in creating states and not bifurcating them. Maharashtra BJP has never put the statehood of Vidarbha in the manifesto because creating new states is the job of the central government," Fadnavis told PTI.