NGOs extend support to Vidarbha referendum tomorrow

A string of organisations have extended their support to Vidarbha Joint Action Committee (VJAC)-sponsored referendum on separate Vidarbha state, to be held here tomorrow.
"As many as 36 organisations have expressed their support for the referendum on separate Vidarbha", said VJAC convener and former MLA Wamanrao Chatap.
He said similar referendums would be held at Yavatmal on February 15 and at other east Maharashtra cities of Gondia, Akola and Washim in future.
The voting for the process would be held at over 240 polling booths across 71 wards in the city apart from mobile polling stations.
Earlier, similar referendums were held in Amravati and Nagpur, which had received overwhelming response.

Youth NGOs like Eco-Pro, Green Planet Society, Prahar and Samaj Sudharak Foundation extended their full support for the exercise.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ashish Deshmukh, founder of Youth for Vidarbha State and convener of Vidarbha Joint Action Committee, today said Congress' poll prospects in the region appeared bleak if it failed to take note of the aspirations of people seeking carving out of Vidarbha state from Maharashtra.
"The step-motherly treatment being meted out to Vidarbha since past several years has resulted in inexplicable backlogs on several issues of development like irrigation, roads, agriculture and so forth leading to suicides of over 32,000 farmers in the region", Deshmukh told reporters here.