Vidarbha movement

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Map of India with Vidarbha highlighted in red India Vidarbha locator map.svg
Map of India with Vidarbha highlighted in red

The Vidarbha movement includes political activities organised by various individuals, organizations and political parties, for creation of a separate state of Vidarbha, within the republic of India, with Nagpur as the capital. The proposed state corresponds to the eastern 11 districts of the state of Maharashtra. It makes up for 31% of area and 21% of population of the present state of Maharashtra. The area is covered by thick tropical forests and is surplus in electricity, minerals, rice and cotton.

Contents

Statehood demand

The Vidarbha region is a centrally located area in India and forms eastern part of Maharashtra state. The demand for a separate state of Vidarbha was raised for the first time over 100 years ago. As a result of which, the Central Provinces legislature passed a unanimous resolution to create a separate state of 'Mahavidarbha' on 1 October 1938 at Nagpur. Some people celebrate 1 October as 'Vidarbha Day' This was much before the demand for a "Samyukta Maharashtra" was even conceived. [1] Vidarbha State formation does not occur due to West Maharashtra (Mumbai and Pune) political party Rule.

After merger with the new state of Maharashtra, the demand of separate statehood was raised time and again, with an economic view, quoting the increasing developmental backlog.

State Reorganization Commission

The Government of India appointed the first State Reorganisation Committee (SRC) under Chairmanship of Fazal Ali on 29 December 1953.

Vidarbhite leaders at that time, like M S Aney and Brijlal Biyani, submitted a memorandum to State Reorganisation Commission (SRC) for a separate Vidarbha State.

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had also favoured a "One state - One language" principle for reorganisation of states, he was against "one language - one state" policy. Accordingly, he submitted his views about forming at least 2 separate states of Marathi-speaking people, instead of a single large state of Maharashtra. He thought one state should have one language but at the same time, there can be two or more separate states of one language, depending upon the need for efficient administration. He had clearly favoured "Vidarbha State" with Nagpur as capital, saying, "Single government can not administer such a huge state as United Maharashtra." [2]

The Fazal Ali SRC, after considering these memoranda and all other related aspects, favoured a separate Vidarbha State with Nagpur as capital in the year 1956.

But Vidarbha was made part of the new state of Maharashtra in 1960 by the central government, favouring the "One language - One state" principle.

Nagpur Pact

The 1953 Nagpur Pact assures equitable development of all the regions of the proposed Marathi State. Most prominent clause of the Nagpur Pact was: one session of Maharashtra state assembly in Nagpur city every year, with minimum six weeks duration, to discuss issues exclusively related to Vidarbha.

The signatories to the pact in 1953 were:

Some honourable person rejected to sign 1953 pact were:

Merger with Maharashtra

On 1 May 1960, the Vidarbha state was merged with a newly formed Maharashtra State, under the agreement known as Nagpur Pact. At that time Nagpur city lost the state capital status. Nagpur thus became the only city in independent India, which lost "state capital status" after historically being a capital of the biggest state of India (by area) for more than 100 years.

Post merger developments

After the merger, winter assembly session is being held regularly at Nagpur. Contrary to the provisions of "Nagpur Pact", the session is never held for complete six weeks. Moreover, although session is supposed to discuss exclusively issues related to Vidarbha, it is conducted like any other Maharashtra state assembly session, discussing all issues. The Vidarbha region under new Maharashtra state allegedly continued to suffer in development, giving impetus to the renewed demand of more equitable development of all regions of Maharashtra.

Under these circumstances, the Maharashtra Government appointed a committee, to study regional imbalances in Maharashtra. The committee found that:

"The failure to report to the state assembly every year in terms of the Nagpur Agreement, has been a serious lapse on the part of the state Government. If a report had been made to state legislature, as per the Nagpur Agreement, the matter would have received sustained attention. In the circumstances this did not happen." [4]

Political groups associated with the movement

A staunch Vidarbhite Madhav Shrihari Aney won the Nagpur loksabha seat in 1962, on separate Vidarbha state agenda as an independent candidate. [5]

Raje Vishveswarrao won Chandrapur loksabha seat in 1977, on separate Vidarbha agenda. [6]

Mr Jambuwantrao Dhote won, Nagpur loksabha seat in 1971, as a Forward Bloc candidate, with a clear separate Vidarbha state agenda. [7] Vidarbha Janata Congress was founded by Mr Jambuwantrao Dhote, on 9 September 2002 for the separate Vidarbha state.

Former central cabinet ministers of congress party, Vasant Sathe and N. K. P. Salve, formed the Vidarbha Rajya Nirman Congress in 2003, with a clear separate Vidarbha-state agenda.

Former member of parliament from Nagpur, Banawarilal Purohit floated the Vidarbha Rajya Party in 2004, just before the loksabha elections, with a clear agenda of the separate Vidarbha state.

After declaration of the separate Telangana state by central Government on 9 December 2009, [8] all these and more than 65 other organizations have joined, demanding the separate Vidarbha state. This umbrella group is known as Vidarbha Rajya Sangram Samitee. [9]

Most prominent amongst this group is the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is committed to the cause of the separate Vidarbha state, as per its national manifesto. Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader Prakash Ambedkar, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), all the factions of Republican Party of India (RPI) have pledged full support to the separate Vidarbha-state movement.

During 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, as per some news-reports statehood for Vidarbha became a non-issue and the Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti (VJAS) had appealed to the people of Vidarbha to opt for NOTA (None of the above) option in this election, as no party was raising the issue of a separate Vidarbha State. Some high post bureaucrats said that Western Maharashtra parties want monopoly over maharashtra by suppressing Vidarbha. [10]

The Shiv Sena has been opposing it on the plank that Marathi-speaking people shouldn't be divided and reminds that Samyukta Maharashtra Movement fructified into United Maharashtra only after sacrifice of 105 martyrs in agitations for same., [11] [12] In 2009–10, Shiv Sena formed the Akhand Maharashtra Parishad in Vidarbha, to conduct a series of lectures in different regions of Vidarbha by experts on socio-economic and political issues. [13]

Selected streams of opinion

The educated middle class in West Vidarbha (Amravati administrative division) says that the concept of a separate Vidarbha is in fact a ploy of Hindi speakers from North-Central India and traders from gujrati marwadi Jain community. while former want greater access to political power the latter wants to cultivate economic interests. Vidarbha Bureaucrat says that western area is distributed by party like Nashik MNS, Pune NCP, Mumbai Shivsena. And Vidarbha is Orphan.

The middle class in Western Maharashtra, Konkan and Marathwada say that vidarbhite political leaders are responsible for the decline and underdevelopment of Vidarbha; But whenever the question of Vidarbha's economic backwardness comes up, the people of Western Maharashtra are held responsible. The issue of farmer suicides in Vidarbha is certainly important; But there are also many socio-economic-political reasons behind this and we should better not allow third party to politicize the issue like farmers suicides merely to gain political mileage.

Timeline

See also

List of proposed states and territories of India

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maharashtra</span> State in the western region of India

Maharashtra is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdivision globally. It was formed on 1 May 1960 by splitting the bilingual Bombay State, which had existed since 1956, into majority Marathi-speaking Maharashtra and Gujarati-speaking Gujarat. Maharashtra is home to the Marathi people, the predominant ethno-linguistic group, who speak the Marathi language, the official language of the state. The state is divided into 6 divisions and 36 districts, with the state capital being Mumbai, the most populous urban area in India, and Nagpur serving as the winter capital, which also hosts the winter session of the state legislature. Godavari and Krishna are the two major rivers in the state. Forests cover 16.47 per cent of the state's geographical area. Out of the total cultivable land in the state, about 60 per cent is used for grain crops in the Deccan region, rice in coastal Konkan, and other high rainfall areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shiv Sena</span> Political party in Maharashtra, India

Shiv Sena was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bombay, the party agitated for preferential treatment for the Marathi people over migrants from other parts of India. Its election symbol for Maharashtra was the Bow and Arrow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vidarbha</span> Former state and historical region in Maharashtra, India

Vidarbha is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a proposed state of central India, comprising the state's Amravati and Nagpur divisions. Amravati Division's former name is Berar. It occupies 31.6% of the total area and holds 21.3% of the total population of Maharashtra. It borders the state of Madhya Pradesh to the north, Chhattisgarh to the east, Telangana to the south and Marathwada and Uttar Maharashtra regions of Maharashtra to the west. Situated in central India. The largest city in Vidarbha is Nagpur followed by Amravati, Akola, and Chandrapur. A majority of Vidarbhians speak Varhadi and Zadi dialects of Marathi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amravati</span> City in Maharashtra, India

Amravati is the second largest city in the Vidarbha region and ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India. It is administrative headquarters of Amravati district and Amravati division which includes Akola, Buldhana, Washim, and Yavatmal districts. It is one of the Maharashtra's nominated city under Smart Cities Mission.

Vidarbha Janata Congress is a political party in the Indian state of Maharashtra. VJC was launched on 9 September 2002 by a former Member of Parliament Jambuwantrao Dhote. The party was formed to demand statehood for the Vidarbha region separate from Maharashtra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yavatmal</span> City in Maharashtra, India

Yavatmal (pronunciation  is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Yavatmal District. Yavatmal is around 90 km away from divisional headquarters Amravati while it is 670 km away from the state capital Mumbai. The name is derived from the Marathi Yavat and mal. Another theory is it might be derived from Yavateshwar and Mal as the city is located on a plateau, which is comparatively higher altitude than its other tehsils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nagpur division</span> Place in Maharashtra, India

The Nagpur Division is one of six administrative divisions of the state of Maharashtra in India. Nagpur is the easternmost division in the state, with an administrative headquarters in the city of Nagpur. It covers 51,336 km² (19,821 mi²). The Amravati and Nagpur divisions make up the Vidarbha region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nagpur district</span> District of Maharashtra in India

Nagpur district is a district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Nagpur is the district administrative centre. The district is part of Nagpur Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. S. Gavai</span> Indian politician

Ramkrishna Suryabhan Gavai, popularly known as Dadasaheb Gavai, was an Indian politician, social activist, senior leader of the Ambedkarite movement, and founder of the Republican Party of India (Gavai). He was the President of Ambedkar's ideological party Republican Party of India, through this party, he did many works in political and social fields. Gavai also worked with Babasaheb Ambedkar, a polymath and the father of the republic of India. He was the Governor of the three states of Bihar, Sikkim and Kerala, as well as he has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Gavai was a 30-year member (MLC) of the Maharashtra Legislative Council during which he served on the posts of the chairman, the deputy chairman, and the Opposition leader of the council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunil Deshmukh</span> Indian politician

Sunil Panjabrao Deshmukh is the Member of Legislative Assembly from the constituency of Amravati, Maharashtra, India. He is a member of Indian National Congress (INC). In 2009, he was expelled from the Indian National Congress due to his rebellion in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha election, 2009 when he was denied a ticket to contest the election from his Amravati constituency in order to accommodate Mr. Raosaheb Shekhawat, the son of then President of India, Pratibha Patil. He was also the Minister of State for Finance and Planning, Public Works and Energy in the cabinet of the Government of Maharashtra (2004-2009). He was also the guardian minister for Amravati and Bhandara Districts of Vidarbha, Maharashtra from 2004-2009. Additionally, he also served as the ex-officio Vice-Chairman of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board's holding company and as the co-chairman of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madhav Shrihari Aney</span> Indian politician

Dr. Madhav Shrihari Aney ; popularly referred to as Loknayak Bapuji Aney or Bapuji Aney, was an ardent educationist, freedom fighter, statesman, a modern Sanskrit poet and a politician. He was also conferred with the title of "Loknayak Bapuji", which means "The People's Leader and Respected Father". He was one of the founders of the Congress Nationalist Party. He was first among the eminent disciples of Lokmanya Tilak such as N C Kelkar, Kakasaheb Khadilkar, Gangadhar Deshpande, Dr B S Munje, Abhyankar, T B Paranjpe and Vaman Malhar Joshi, who walked in the footsteps of Tilak. Accepting the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi on the death of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Aney persuaded his colleagues to see the writing on the wall. At the same time he was not blind in his loyalty. He disapproved Congress throwing itself in Khilafat Movement and warned against excessive wooing of Muslims at the cost of national interests. He regarded unity at any price as elusive and dangerous. Since the best safeguard for the minority was the goodwill of the majority. He never permitted his critical faculties to be blurred by emotion. Mahatma Gandhi admiring his calm logic, confided in him and often sought his counsel. He was chosen to arbitrate the disputes between Subhash Chandra Bose and Jatindra Mohan Sengupta. He was never a breaker or a destroyer but was always a cementing factor believing in synthesis and not in segregation.

Jambhuwantrao Bapurao Dhote was an Indian politician. Known by his supporters as The Lion of Vidharbha & He is son-in-law of veteran Congress leader late Ramrao Adik.

The Nagpur Pact was concluded between Indian political leaders on 28 September 1953. It led to the creation of the state of Maharashtra from contiguous Marathi-speaking areas of the then Bombay State, Madhya Pradesh State and Hyderabad state.

Akola Pact of 1947 was an agreement between the Congress leaders from Western Maharashtra and from then Central Provinces and Berar. It was for the creation of two sub-provinces of Mahavidarbha and Western Maharashtra. It envisaged two separate executive, legislation, judiciary and council of minister, but under a single Government.

Jan 28, 1940: The samyukta mahasabha organization is formed in Bombay to pursue the resolution passed at the literary meet.

Dr. Gopalrao Bajirao Deshmukh alias Abasaheb Khedkar, also known as Abasaheb Khedkar was a social activist and a farmer's leader in India. He was the Minister of Rural Development in the first cabinet ministry of Maharashtra and the first President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

Narendra Kumar Prasadrao Salve was a veteran Indian politician from Indian National Congress, parliamentarian and a cricket administrator. Former Union minister and president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) (1982–1985), he was instrumental in bringing the Cricket World Cup outside England and to the Indian subcontinent in 1987. Salve was a staunch advocate for the separate statehood of Vidarbha.

Ravi Gangadhar Rana is an Indian independent politician, a 3rd time MLA presently representing the Badnera in Amravati District of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in its 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

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