Love for Vidarbha is not hate for Maharashtra: Devendra Fadnavis

Demanding separate Vidarbha doesn't mean opposing Maharashtra, says chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. "Whenever the issue of a separate Vidarbha state is discussed, it is treated like an Indo-Pak issue, wherein Vidarbha is Pakistan. This is wrong," he said.

People of Vidarbha has been demanding a separate state as they want development, he said. "The transformation of Mumbai city by building flyovers was done by Gadkari. People from Vidarbha feel that they also want this kind of development," Fadnavis said.

But Fadnavis, aware that he himself is from Vidarbha and the chief minister of Maharashtra, was quick to balance his stance: "I am proud of Vidarbha and equally proud of Maharashtra".

Citing examples of leaders from the Vidarbha region, like late chief ministers Vasantrao Naik and Sudhakarrao Naik, and Union minister Nitin Gadkari, he said that they have made huge contributions to the progress of Maharashtra.

He was speaking at a private function at minister for parliamentary affairs Girish Bapat's bungalow. The chief minister said that his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is in favour of smaller states.

The BJP, he said, supported creation of smaller states like Telangana and Jharkhand.