Vidarbha leaders demand separate state, Sena opposes

Mumbai: Amid clamour by the legislators from Vidarbha to carve out a separate state, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday said it would not allow the division of Maharashtra.

"We will not allow the division of Maharashtra till we (Shiv Sena) are alive," Sena legislator Ramdas Kadam said in the state Legislative Council. For some time Kadam had an argument with BJP legislator from Vidharbha Shobha Fadnavis, who alleged during a debate on wet drought that the region faced discrimination. "There is 1.5 percent irrigation in Konkan. Whereas in Vidarbha the irrigation capacity is upto 5 percent," Kadam, who hails from Khed in Konkan, said. Meanwhile, BJP legislator Ashish Shelar asked the state government to take action against columnist Shobha De over her tweet on a separate Mumbai state. PTI