Pro-Vidarbha dissident BJP MLA Deshmukh says "options open"

While saying he has other options open, BJP MLA Ashish Deshmukh, facing a show-cause notice for 'anti-party remarks', today said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should first give reply to his letter on the issue of separate Vidarbha.
Deshmukh is a vocal supporter of statehood for Vidarbha.
Addressing a press conference here, he said that Fadnavis and his cabinet colleague Sudhir Mungantiwar, when they were opposition MLAs, had moved a resolution for separate Vidarbha in the Maharashtra Assembly seven times.
"I reminded in my letter to the chief minister about the BJP's assurance on Vidarbha state after four years in power. If two Marathi states come into existence, it will be a good development. (As it is) There are two Telugu-speaking states," Deshmukh, the son of former state Congress chief Ranjit Deshmukh, said.

Statehood to Vidarbha would solve the problems of development deficit, farmer suicides and unemployment in the region, he said.
"For the first time in the history of the state, there is 30 per cent cut in development works of District Planning Development Committees (DPDC). Governments change but the situation on the ground remains the same," he said.

Not a single project was sanctioned in Vidarbha under the Make In India project, he alleged.
""Options are open before me. But I am confident the party would address the issues raised by me. Fadnavis should reply to my letter before I reply to the show-cause notice," he said.

Deshmukh, who started a tour ('Vidarbha Atmabal Yatra') for the cause of separate Vidarbha on January 7, said he will cover all 62 Assembly constituencies in the region before it concludes on February 13.