Separate Vidarbha demand: CM Devendra Fadnavis puts onus on Centre

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday sought to put onus on the Centre to resolve the contentious Vidarbha statehood issue and asserted there was no threat to his post over the emotive matter on which the ruling allies BJP and Shiv Sena are deeply divided. [caption id=“attachment_2912856” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Reuters[/caption] Making a statement on the issue in the Legislative Council a day after doing so in the Assembly, Fadnavis reiterated there was no proposal before his government to grant statehood to the region. “The Constitution of the country gives the right of creating separate states to the Centre and not to the state government. The Centre has blanket and overriding powers in this regard. As far as the issue of Vidarbha is concerned, there is no proposal for a separate statehood for the region before the state government,” Fadnavis said. “I am the CM of a unified Maharashtra and there is no threat to my post. As a party, BJP favours creation of smaller states but Sena favours a unified Maharashtra. But in the government, both parties are working in tandem,” he said. Narayan Rane (Congress) then asked Fadnavis to clarify in the House whether he would continue as the Chief Minister of a united Maharashtra in future as well. Responding to him, Fadnavis said, “I know you want me to remain the CM forever, which will happen… There is no need to dwell on the intricacies of words”.