‘RSS is not a body to speak on Vidarbha’

Taking a U-turn on small states’ agenda, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Konkan divisional campaign in-charge Pramod Bapat said that M.G. Vaidya is not an authority to speak on issues such as division of Maharashtra and formation of new states.

Meanwhile, commenting on the matter Congress said the formation of a separate state is not the main concern of the state, the shortage of water is. But the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Ambedkar Prakash, spoke out in favour of small states but opposed the RSS and the BJP’s proposed division of the state into four parts.

According to RSS’ Pramod Bapat, separate Vidarbha statehood was never on their agenda and they do not want to speak out in matters of creating a separate statehood. “Whatever M.G. Vaidya had said about Vidarbha and Devgiri being carved out of Maharashtra, is his personal views and not the standpoint of RSS,” said Mr Bapat.

“RSS does not have any hidden agenda. We are clear about our agenda of non-interference in state’s matters of policy and administration,” he added.

He also refuted the charges that former advocate general Shirhari Aney was backed by RSS over his controversial statement over separate statehood.

Meanwhile, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said that the issue of a separate Marathwada or Devgiri issue got over with the resignation of Mr Aney. “When Vidarbha could not be viable on the ground of financial resources, how can Marathwada become feasible ” Mr Chavan said.

He added that experts from finance and other sectors should conduct a survey and study the financial viability of Vidarbha and Marathwada, so that both the people and the ruling parties will get to know the feasibility of creating smaller states.

“During Congress-NCP regime, I could allocate Rs 106 crore for the pipeline to provide drinking water to Osmanabad. It could happen because Maharashtra is a big state and it has financial capacity to spend a lot of money for development,” Mr Chavan said. He also added, “Allocating huge amounts of money for developmental purposes will not be possible in a separate Marathwada state. It has no resources and will not be viable.”

On the other hand, while advocating the creating of smaller states, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar, opposed the RSS and the BJP’s proposed division of the state in four parts. He said that in small states, administrative expenses will be less and more amount of funds would be available for development. “Even the ministers can visit all parts of a small state and understand issues which is not possible in a big state like Maharashtra,” he said.