Meanwhile, Sulekha Kumbhare of Bahujan Republican Ekta Manch (BREM) said that her party would stage a daylong symbolic hunger strike at Samvidhan Square on August 9 in favour of a separate Vidarbha.
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While campaigning for the Maharashtra assembly election in 2014, Fadnavis and his party were avid supporters of a separate state of Vidarbha, a stand that helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win 44 out of 66 assembly seats in the region. It is not right to discuss an issue which is not pending before this House, he added.
But after holding two meetings with opposition leaders, the Sena announced that the party believes in the Chief Minister’s clarification to the house that the State has no such proposal. “Remember, I am the chief minister of a united Maharashtra. This is not the government’s stand”, he added, and appealed to the members to put a stop to the discussion on the Vidarbha issue.
Senior Congress leader Narayan Rane said had it been an Independent MP’s bill, one could have understood, but a BJP MP could not have brought such a bill without seeking an opinion from party’s national and state leaders. “People have that right”, Mr Fadnavis said.
Sunil Prabhu, Sena MLA, said, “The CM’s statement hasn’t satisfied us because he hasn’t committed clearly to keeping the state united. I have clarified my government’s position”.
“We have taken an oath to be true to the Constitution. We had made some promises to our partners in the government and hence we can’t grant statehood to Vidarbha as of now”, Rao, who is party in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, told the media during a press conference.
Responding to him, Mr Fadnavis said, “I know you want me to remain the CM forever, which will happen…” He was replying to Leader of Opposition Radhakrisha Vikhe-Patil’s demand to bring in the resolution of united Maharashtra.
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Muttemwar said he would make a complaint to the Congress high-command against Congress party’s legislative leaders including former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan for “siding with ideological rivals like Shiv Sena just for the sake of politics”.
