Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti march on assembly for independent Vidarbha state

Nagpur: Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti (VRAS) is going to take out a protest march during the winter session of Vidhansabha on December 19, demanding a separate Vidarbha state.

“This issue has been pending for nearly 117 years, and there is a great need to resolve it by hook or by crook. This protest will be result-oriented as we plan to somehow resolve the issue by December 2023,” Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti President Wamanrao Chatap said.

Addressing the media on Thursday, Chatap, who is also a lawyer and former MLA, accused Union minister Nitin Gadkari, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadanvis and forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar of making a lot of false promises about the state of Vidarbha. Chatap has also claimed, ‘The MLAs and MPs have promised us that after coming to power, they will give us what we asked for. But even after almost eight years, they have completely failed to fulfill their promise.

Maharashtra is on the verge of bankruptcy and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation

The protest will start from Yashwant Stadium at 1 pm and will reach Vidhan Bhavan via Panchsheel Square, Jhansi Rani Square and Variety Square. Chatap also said that around 10,000 people from all the 11 districts are expected to join the protest.

The former MLA also said, “Maharashtra is also on the verge of bankruptcy and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has to take a loan of around Rs 65,000 crore to compensate the land acquired from farmers. And it is also the responsibility of the government to return it.”

He added, “States, burdened with a mountain of debt and liabilities of about Rs 6.60 lakh crore, can never become competent at all, Because of this, even if the people of Vidarbha stay in Maharashtra for 100 years, their dues cannot be cleared. The only answer to all these questions is an independent state of Vidarbha.”

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