MNS: Dont want Vidarbha state but okay to referendum

MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday expressed his opposition to a separate Vidarbha state,saying its not proper to talk of divorce at the time of the 50th marriage anniversary,but said he would be favourable to a referendum on the issue....

MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday expressed his opposition to a separate Vidarbha state,saying its not proper to talk of divorce at the time of the 50th marriage anniversary,but said he would be favourable to a referendum on the issue.

Raj,who said he had come to the city to specially know the issues of the region,blamed the Congress for Vidarbhas backwardness. They ruled the region for the maximum period. And the same people are now talking of a separate Vidarbha state, he said,referring to Nagpur Congress MP Vilas Muttemwars demand for the separate state. He should leave the Congress first and then demand a separate state.

Vidarbha needs to change the doctor for treating its ills. We cant sever the head

if there is haemorrhage, he added.

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Contesting the idea of smaller states,the MNS chief said,(Former Jharkhand chief minister) Madhu Koda was involved in a big scam in his small state. Do we want

to create smaller states for such scams?

Asked how he viewed non-Marathi people living for generations in Vidarbha,he said,I have always made it clear that I am not opposed to such people. My opposition is only to the hordes of people that are descending on Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra as part of the vote-bank plan to create more and more non-Marathi MLAs and MPs in Maharashtra.

With Raj turning up the aggression against Vidarbha statehood,the MNS is sniffing a chance to spread its influence in the region. He is likely to tour Vidarbha in January.

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