Charging "Mumbai-centric" policy makers of the state with ignoring Vidarbha, Muttemwar, in a letter addressing all 24 party legislators from Vidarbha, has called upon them to come out openly in favour of separate statehood demand and not buckle under any pressure.
Last week, state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had said that smaller states were not feasible while bigger states like Maharashtra were more economically viable.
Muttemwar rued that the political support provided by Vidarbha has never been reciprocated by the leadership.
Vidarbha has a better case than Telangana, but the demand is ignored only because our Congress legislators are afraid to take a public stance, he claimed.
He also refuted allegation that he was raising the demand because he was not inducted in Cabinet. "On the contrary, my pro-Vidarbha stance has cost me dearly," the seven-time MP claimed.
Listing out benefits of formation of small and administratively viable units like Vidarbha, Muttemwar stated that Ankisa village of Gadchiroli is 1,400 kms away from Mumbai while last village of Gondia is at a distance 1,250 km.
Taking a dig at detractors of separate Vidarbha, he reminded them about the prosperity of the region and how it was ruined during last 53 years by alleged apathy of successive governments. Nagpur lost its capital status and flourishing towns like Amravati and Akola are in shambles, he lamented.
Newly formed states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal achieved prosperity and growth in last one decade, while Vidarbha is reeling under acute backwardness and fighting to wipe out old backlog, which is a result of step-motherly policies of Maharashtra government, he further alleged.