Shreehari Aney demands referendum on separate Vidarbha

Maharashtra Advocate General Shrihari Aney, who recently resigned after inviting backlash for backing statehood for Marathwada, on Saturday said there should be a referendum on demand of separate state of Vidarbha.

Aney, a known votary of separate Vidarbha, said if less then 51 per cent of people supported the separate Vidarbha state, "we will drop the issue for ever".

"I am of the opinion that (the power to take) decision of creation of Vidarbha lies in Delhi and even if the entire Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passes a resolution against the formation of new state, the Parliament can create Vidarbha," Aney said at a meet-the-press program. The Parliament was supreme in this matter, he said.

Vidarbha supporters would be calling on BSP supremo Mayawati, AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to muster support, he said, adding that support of these parties too should be obtained, apart from Congress and BJP.

Pro-Vidarbha organizations will hold a sit-in in Delhi on March 31 and he would attend it, he said. Earlier on Saturday, Aney, who visited Nagpur for the first time after resigning as AG, was accorded a grand welcome by supporters of Vidarbha.

Defending his decision to resign, he said he feared that Budget session of Legislature would be disrupted over the issue, so he decided to put in the papers. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is known to have close relations with Aney, is yet to accept his resignation.