Under fire from opponents for alleged double-speak on Vidarbha statehood demand, Maharashtra BJP president Devendra Fadnavis has said the issue has never been a part of their manifesto, as creation of states is under the Centre’s jurisdiction.
“Our party’s central manifesto has a mention of creation of smaller states to be good administrative models. We believe in creating states and not bifurcating them. Maharashtra BJP has never put the statehood of Vidarbha in the manifesto because creating new states is the job of the central government,” said Fadnavis.
The state BJP manifesto has come in for criticism from rival parties for ignoring the issue of statehood to Vidarbha, when some party leaders from the region have been campaigning in favour of it.
“The previous NDA government created three states and they have progressed well and have good relations with their parent states, whereas Congress bifurcated Andhra Pradesh creating tension between Telangana and Andhra,” he said.
Asserting that the BJP will get majority in the October 15 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Fadnavis said there is no question of a post-poll realignment because his party would not require anyone to form the next government.
“We don’t have a plan B because our plan A will be a success. BJP will be the single largest party,” he said.
The difference between previous Assembly polls and the one to be held now is that BJP has been able to reach out to 50 lakh voters through different mediums as compared to about 10 to 12 lakh through rallies earlier.
“To get a majority over the other four parties, we need to get one crore votes,” he said.
