Mumbai: The tough stand of the BJP for a separate state of Vidarbha has created a big hurdle for the Shiv Sena at least in Vidarbha region after the split of the 25-year-old alliance.
Nagpur, the major city in Vidarbha has been the headquarters of the RSS and after the death Gopinath Munde, Union Urban Development minister Nitin Gadkari, has become the most important BJP leader in the state. Gadkari hails from Nagpur and Munde was from Marathwada region.
Nitin Gadkari with all his political clout has been making the efforts to win the maximum seats out of total 62 assembly seats in Vidarbha. With the highest incidents of farmers' suicides, Vidarbha has become the strong bastion of the Shiv Sena with the initiatives taken by Divakar Ravate, the senior Shiv Sena leader.
However, this issue is completely sidelined in this election, especially with the Prime Minister's special package for Vidarbha. Vidarbha has a sizable population of Dalits, which can decide the outcome in 33 assembly constituencies. For many years, Dalits have supported the Congress, but in the last elections, there was a sudden inclination towards the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Mayawati. The BJP got the Dalit leader Ramdas Athawale on board with an eye on the Dalit vote bank.
The BJP tried to consolidate its position by campaigning for statehood for Vidarbha before next parliamentary elections. The BJP has been advocating for the creation of small and manageable states for the past two decades and the states like Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana came into existence with the support of the BJP. Gadkari and state BJP chief Devendra Phadanavis, both hailing from Vidarbha are strongly advocating the issue of separate Vidarbha state.
This issue had never surfaced during the time of Balasaheb Thackeray as he was committed to the Sanyukta Maharashtra or United Maharashtra. As soon as both parties said goodbye to the alliance and went their own way, the BJP started a strong campaign for Vidarbha. On the other hand the executive president of the Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray is also advocating the need of a bullet train between Mumbai and Nagpur, which will help the development of the Vidarbha Region.
In fact, Nagpur, which was a part of the Hindi belt of Madhya Pradesh is equipped with the infrastructure and natural resources like water and mines to be the capital of separate Vidarbha. Although, Nagpur became a part of Maharashtra after the Nagpur pact of 1953, their demands remained unfulfilled. It is important to note that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) is demanding a separate 'prant' for the past many decades with its national headquarters located in Nagpur.
However, Shiv Sena is very much committed to the united Maharashtra as 105 persons became martyrs in the Sanyukta Maharashtra agitation, which was spearheded by the Shiv Sena and the party established its base in Mumbai after this movement. The NCP and Congress have adopted a wait-and-watch formula without taking any stand on the Vidarbha issue.
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