Bandh proved mass support, says VRSS

NAGPUR: Leaders of the Vidarbha Rajya Sangram Samiti (VRSS) claimed that the ‘hartal’ call given by them evoked a total response in all 11districts of the region.

“It was possible because of the spontaneous support of the people. The successful bandh has vindicated our point that the separate state demand has popular support. Those spreading the impression that a handful of leaders and members of trading community were interested and the statehood agitation had no mass backing have been proved wrong,” said a triumphant Congress MP Vilas Muttemwar.

Strangely, all the involved parties held separate press conferences to voice their opinion although on Tuesday the Vidarbha Rajya Sangram Samiti (VRSS) had set up a central control room at Bhaskar Bhavan in Civil Lines. Though the parties tried to beat it down as a non-issue, sources said that the Congress MPs did not attend the VRSS media briefing due to the statement issued by Jambuwantrao Dhote on Monday.

The firebrand leader, who led a pro-Vidarbha agitation in the 70s, had said at a public gathering in Chandrapur that the VRSS would take the help of Naxalites for Vidarbha’s cause. “Efforts to reconcile them are on,” the source said.

Muttemwar and Wardha MP Datta Meghe said the bandh was peaceful all over the region except for minor incidents of stone pelting on buses. “There was no bloodshed anywhere as pro-Vidarbha activists adopted peaceful methods. There was no police lathi-charge or firing. Except for stone-pelting at some buses and detaining of Vidarbha Express at Badnera, it passed off without any clashes,” the duo pointed out.

At a separate media briefing, Jambuwantrao Dhote, Prakash Ambedkar (BRP-BMS), Ranjit Deshmukh (Cong), Devendra Fadnavis (BJP), Banwarilal Purohit (BJP), Ramdas Athawale (RPI-U), Jogendra Kawade, Kishor Tiwari, mayor Archana Dehankar and Sudhakar Deshmukh (BJP) also claimed complete success for the Vidarbha bandh. They also announced some steps to be taken in coming days.

Muttemwar and Meghe hoped MPCC president Manikrao Thakre, who hails from Yavatmal, would take note of the situation in Vidarbha and apprise the party leadership in New Delhi.

Former state minister and state Congress president Ranjit Deshmukh said that the VRSS would first constitute district level committees which would include members of all pro-Vidarbha political parties. Then committees would be constituted at taluka and municipal council level. The process would start after February 1.

Muttemwar and Meghe said zilla parishads of Yavatmal and Gadchiroli had passed resolutions in support of separate state and ZPs in other districts would follow suit. “Similarly, all panchayat samites and gram panchayats in Vidarbha are also expected to pass resolutions supporting statehood,” said Meghe.

Deshmukh said that a dharna would be held under the leadership of Dhote on January 23 near the statue of Subhashchandra Bose on Tekdi Road. The VRSS would start a signature campaign from January 26 and the focus would be on women and youngsters. Samiti members would also go to every college in Vidarbha and give a presentation highlighting benefits of separate Vidarbha state.

Athawale said that it was a wrong impression that people of western Maharashtra were against formation of Vidarbha. “Only a few leaders of the region are against statehood for the region,” he said. Kawade added that the RPI district units of western Maharashtra had supported Vidarbha statehood.

Ambedkar said that Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh would take cognisance of spontaneous bandh. “We will meet these leaders and then decided our future strategy.” He gave the credit of the bandh to the unity shown by all the VRSS constituents.

Muttemwar conceded that a resolution of the state assembly supporting creation of Vidarbha state looked unlikely as 62 legislators of the region would be pitted against 226 from the other parts of the state. But, he said, the Parliament had the powers to clear creation of the new state without the state resolution.

In its separate briefing, BJP said that its activists played a big role in making a Vidarbha bandh a complete success in all 11 districts. “We are not denying the role of other parties nor are we quantifying our contribution but certainly the active participation of a national party does make a difference,” said MLA Devendra Fadnavis and former MP Banwarilal Purohit.

Justifying the separate press conference, Purohit said that while BJP worked with VRSS, as a national party it had to inform the citizens about the role played by its activists in different areas. Fadnavis said that in every district between 500 and 1,000 BJP activists took part in the bandh. He, however, admitted as that as bandh enjoyed support of most people the activists did not have to do much.
Fadnavis said that the response to the bandh in west Vidarbha demolished the claim made by some persons that movement was confined to east Vidarbha. “In Washim, not even tea stalls were open,” he said. Fadnavis further said that the pro-Vidarbha activists ensured a total bandh in Gadchiroli district without taking help of Naxalites. It was better than bandh called by the ultras earlier, he added.

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