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Pawar all for Vidarbha

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and former Maharashtra chief minister Sharad Pawar has come out openly in support of the formation of a separate state of Vidarbha.

The senior Congress leader said it was difficult to understand why the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government was not willing to grant statehood to Vidarbha while conceding the same for Chhattisgarh and two other regions.

"The sentiments of the people of the region should be respected by the rulers of the country irrespective of their party affiliations. I am all for the formation of the Vidarbha state," he remarked.

Pawar criticised the BJP for its somersault on the issue. Having promised it in its election manifesto, the BJP is keeping quiet about it now. Whether Vidarbha state would be economically viable or not was secondary, he said.

He expressed unhappiness over the BJP government's application of one standard for Uttaranchal, Zharkhand and Chhattisgarh, another for Vidarbha.

UNI

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