Dharmendra Jore: Separate Vidarbha? That's not happening

While the Devendra Fadnavisled BJP government has promised to attract an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore to be spread across the economicallydepleted corners of Maharashtra at a convergence of CEOs in Mumbai Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwars comment on separate statehood for Vidarbha has caused massive dissent in the region which had voted wholeheartedly for his party not only in the Lok Sabha but also in the Assembly polls in 2014Mungantiwar who is proVidarbha said the BJP was not in a position to make a resolution for a separate state of Vidarbha as it didnt have majority in the House Now a debate has started whether the state government really needs such a resolution because carving out a separate state is entirely the job of the Union government where the BJP has a brute majorityGoing back on given wordProponents of Vidarbha state havent stopped reminding the BJP that it was a promise to carve out a separate government for the backward region that put the party in a formidable position And when Fadnavis a local favourite who fought for the cause in the 15 years of legislative position that he held in the Opposition was made the CM of Maharashtra hopes soaredFour years later the BJP seems to be in a tight corner over the Vidarbha issue with no pushing forward the sevendecadeold demand It will have a lot of explaining to do when it goes to voters in Lok Sabha and Assembly pollsOpportunity has goneLawyer Fadnavis professional guru Shrihari Aney who quit as Maharashtras advocate general over a demand for Vidarbha and later founded a political party to keep his disciple under some pressure sees the opportunity gone at least for the remaining period of BJP governments in the state and CentreThis government has successfully avoided creating Vidarbha state he told me The Constitution does not require concurrence of the state legislature a resolution supporting splitting of the state The Centre needs to pass a bill to carve out a new state Punjab legislature had opposed creation of Haryana and Himachal Uttar Pradesh had opposed Uttaranchal Bihar had opposed Jharkhand and Andhra had opposed Telangana But once the procedure of referring the bill was done Parliament went ahead to pass the bill and created those statesAney says all this is now academic The last possible chance to introduce a bill was this budget session which has already begun Such a bill would normally have to pass through nine parliamentary committees and through both Houses and be sent to Maharashtra legislature for expression of its view All this cannot happen before the next general election he saidDo antiVidarbha parties matterBJPs reluctance to fulfil the promise it has been saying that creating smaller states is its priority is blamed on ally Shiv Sena which does not want to break the state into two A larger section in the Congress and the entire NCP does not support statehood for VidarbhaConsidering the present political situation delay tactics appease the Sena which is becoming a necessity for the BJP if it has to fight out the CongressNCP combination that is shaping up yet again However the learned proVidarbha activists and political leaders including the BJP officebearers and legislators feel that the opinion of the Sena NCP or MNS has no legal value because Parliament has to pass the billBut BJPs think tank doesnt want to rush into the decision It has devised a plan to overcast the separate state demand with the development agenda that is being implemented robustly by Fadnavis and his party senior Union minister Nitin GadkariIts taken funds mega projects and infrastructure to Vidarbha Irrigation and road projects were fasttracked Industries mdash textile parts and processing units supporting agriculture software companies that employ its engineers a defence equipment project a cargo hub and dry ports and super communications highway connecting Nagpur with Mumbai mdash are seen as magnet to woo voters who gave it 44122 Assembly and six Lok Sabha seats in 2014It would be interesting to see how much of Magnetic Maharashtras investments go to Vidarbha Rural unrest is intensified with bad crops farm suicides and delayed loan waiver Other than the strength that BJP will draw from a committed vote bank what is going to benefit it is a weaker Opposition mainly a feudinfested Congress which appears to be nowhere in terms of unity of leadership and workersThe demand for statehood for Vidarbha was first raised before Independence It gained momentum again because a party that vouches for statehood is in power in the state and Centre Come elections and the voices will rise again this time seeking answers from the BJPDharmendra Jore is political editor midday He tweets dharmendrajore Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates