Mayawati's plan to divide UP ignites call to carve state of Vidarbha
Published: Friday, Nov 18, 2011, 9:00 IST
By Shubhangi Khapre | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
A few days after Mayawati proposed to divide Uttar Pradesh into four
parts, political leaders from Maharashtra have renewed their clamour
for a separate state, Vidarbha.
Of the 35 districts and 288 assembly seats in the state, the Vidarbha
region comprises 11 districts and 62 assembly seats. All political
parties, except the Shiv Sena, are for smaller states.
Several NGOs, representing the cotton-growing farmers, have decided to
join the Congress, the NCP and the BJP in their demand for a separate
state. The Vidarbha Jan Andolam Samiti has taken the lead to unite
politicians across the spectrum in this fight.
"The creation of Vidarbha is inevitable for the socio-economic
development of the region," MLA Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP said.
"Also, Maharashtra stands to gain from the split. It will get more
than Rs20,000 crore from the Centre."
Fadnavis, an expert in economics, explained how Maharashtra would
benefit. "The Planning Commission allocates funds to states based on
income distant methods. Currently, Maharashtra falls in the higher
income category," he said. "Once it loses the Vidarbha region it will
fall in the middle income category. This will make it eligible for
additional funds of up to Rs25,000 crore from the Centre. And Vidarbha
will get Rs10,000 crore."
The Samiti might be trying to unite political parties but politicians
have started the game of one-upmanship. Sudhir Mungantiwar, state
chief of the BJP, said party workers would highlight how the Congress
and the NCP have meted out injustice to the people of the region over
the past several years. The BJP has also started a door-to-door
campaign to mobilise support for a separate Vidarbha state.
Not to be left behind, a Congress functionary said MP Vilas Muttemwar
has been fighting for Vidarbha for several years. And Manikrao Thakre,
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief, has already made
his displeasure over water distribution in the state known to the
party top brass in Delhi.
A former Congress minister said caste politics dominate the
governance. "Every year, the state budget is tailored to develop
western Maharashtra, home to the ruling Marathas," he said. "The
region gets maximum funds for irrigation while Vidarbha remains dry
and farmer suicides keep growing." At least 30,000 farmers — the
highest among cotton-growing farmers in the country — have killed
themselves in Vidarbha over the past 10 years.
Vidarbha needs 1,200MW and it generates a surplus power of 4,200MW.
But the region still faces power cuts for eight hours because the
additional power is diverted to Mumbai, Nashik, Pune and parts of
Thane.
The power cuts have also affected industrialisation. Vidarbha, rich in
minerals, could fetch up to Rs5 lakh crore through mining. But there
are only two industries currently functioning. Unable to cope with the
power cuts, several companies either have left or have downed
shutters.
Fadnavis said the Vidarbha region has vast swathes (at least 35 lakh
hectares) of non-irrigated land. "But to make it irrigable, we would
need at least Rs1 lakh crore. And this can happen only when Vidarbha
is carved out of Maharashtra," he said. "Projects languishing in
western Maharashtra take up most of the funds from the annual
irrigation budget."
Kishore Tiwari, chief of Kisan Jan Andolan, said smaller states would
soon become a reality because it "helps in better administration and
development".
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