Advocate General of Maharashtra Shreehari Aney submits his resignation to state governor C. Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. (Photo: Asian Age)
Advocate General of Maharashtra Shreehari Aney submits his resignation to state governor C. Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. (Photo: Asian Age)
Ruling allies Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena have locked horns over the contentious issue of dividing Maharashtra into smaller regions. The BJP’s inclination towards dividing Maharashtra has come to the fore in a series of incidents even as Sena has vehemently opposed it. Former Attorney-General Shreehari Aney’s resignation allowed Sena to score brownie points over BJP however, that did not stop BJP members and supporters from maintaining their stand on having smaller states. BJP MP Sunil Gaikwad from Latur wrote to the PM for a separate Marathwada. BJP women’s wing chief, Vijaya Rahatkar, supported Mr Gaikwad’s demand.
The latest is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) former spokesperson, M.G. Vaidya’s demand for four smaller states to be carved out of Maharashtra.
Mr Vaidya has demanded that the state be divided into four parts: Konkan, western Maharashtra, Vidarbha, and Marathwada with Khandesh. “Small states are easy to operate. If you see Uttar Pradesh has a population of around 17 crore while states such as Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have a population of less than 50 lakh. The states should not have a population of more than 3 crore and less than 50 lakh. The state should be divided into four: Konkan, western Maharashtra, Vidarbha, and Marathwada with Khandesh,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have vehemently opposed all such demands. MNS chief Raj Thackeray alleged that it was the BJP and RSS speaking through Mr Aney, who resigned from the post of Maharashtra advocate general, following a controversy over his remarks about a separate Marathwada. Reacting to the episode, Mr Thackeray said that what Mr Aney said “were not his own words.”
“It is not Mr Aney’s statement on a separate Marathwada but he was made to speak those words. It is an old practice of RSS to make someone say something on a subject and test the waters. It must be noted that BJP and RSS are behind what Mr Aney said,” said Mr Raj.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut said, “Those who are supporting Mr Aney are anti-national. We consider RSS a nationalist organisation. But the organisation is supporting Mr Aney, showing how much they love Maharashtra. It has just changed their uniform from half pants to trousers. At least now, they should not tear trousers into four pieces.”
