With Congress and UPA today giving a decisive push to creation of Telangana, RPI leader Ramdas Athawale has demanded carving out of Vidarbha state from Maharashtra and threatened to launch statewide protests.
"If the union government is declaring separate Telangana, it should also go for separate Vidharbha as the region's development would get a fillip after its separation from Maharashtra," Athawale told reporters after a meeting with party workers here.
The Dalit leader's demand is not in tune with its alliance partner Shiv Sena which is opposing creation of Vidarbha. Athawale's party is the constituent of the Shiv Sena-led "Maha Yuti" (grand alliance) along with BJP.
Justifying his demand, Athawale said, "Vidarbha remained backward because union government was never inclined to develop the region".
He accused Congress-led UPA government of "cold-shouldering" aspirations of people of the region.
