Shiv Sena has no role in separate Vidarbha: Bal Thackeray - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has said his party has no role in the bifurcation of Maharashtra state as demanded by the Vidarbha Sangram Samiti, a forum spearheading the creation of separate Vidarbha state. Speaking to media persons after releasing an album of Pawadas (Marathi folk songs) rendered by Vitthal Umap at his residence here on Wednesday, Thackeray said: "It is not Shiva Sena, which is carting people from here to Vidarbha to stage protest for separate state or influence people there," said Bal Thackeray. He further questioned as to what the Congress ruled government had done in mitigating the problems in the Vidarbha region and also pointed out the Vidarbha Sangram Samiti includes political leaders from the Congress and the BJP. "Why did the Congress fail despite ruling Vidarbha for such long tenure?" he asked. Displaying a long list of political leaders from Vidarbha, who have come together to raise the demand for a separate Vidarbha state, he said in a lighter vein that the list resembles a loin cloth. Thackeray also revealed that among those who are craving for separate Vidarbha is Vasant Sathe, a senior Congress party leader and said he was a member of Indira Gandhi 'Kitchen Cabinet' as a central minister. The Vidarbha region made the headlines for several suicides committed by debt-ridden farmers. People of the region believe that making Vidarbha into a separate state would help in development, and would solve allied regional problems.