Cong MP demands for Vidarbha, writes letter to Sonia

This letter comes in the midst of the UPA's decision to give Telangana a separate statehood status

Amid talks that a decision on separate Telangana is on the cards, demand for carving out Vidarbha state out of Maharashtra was made by senior Congress leader Vilas Muttemwar today.

In a letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, Muttemwar, MP, said, "now when the Telangana state has been agreed to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, people of Vidarbha will have genuine resentment if their similar demand for creation of separate Vidarbha state is not (not) simultaneously agreed to."

Muttemwar, a seven-term Lok Sabha member who represents Nagpur, expressed apprehensions that if the demand of the people of Vidarbha is not accepted at this juncture, "they will grievously and genuinely feel neglected and may resort to violent agitations."

He said this was because that it is a "well known fact that Vidarbha has by far remained under developed as compared to other regions of Maharashtra" though the region was replete with great potentialities."

"I feel time has come to respect the aspirations of the people of Vidarbha for carving out a separate state out of Maharashtra along with the creation of Telangana state.

"I sincerely feel that such a step would be very favourable to the overall interest of the people of Vidarbha and the Congress party," he told Gandhi in the letter.

He added that a smaller state will ensure better governance thereby leading to development of Vidarbha region.