Aspirant States of India - Vidarbha

Vidarbha

Vidarbha comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions in eastern Maharashtra. After British conquests from Mughals and Marathas in central India, Nagpur Province of British India was formed in 1853 with Nagpur as the capital. In 1861, "Central Province" was formed, with Nagpur as capital. In 1935, the Government of India Act, passed by British parliament, formed provincial assembly. Indian National Congress won a majority of seats and Narayan Bhaskar Khare became the first chief minister of Central Provinces in August 1937. In 1946 elections, Ravi Shankar Shukla became chief minister of Central Provinces and Berar, with Nagpur as capital. In the 1950 constitution of India, the state was renamed Madhya Pradesh. In 1953, the States Reorganisation Commission was formed by the Central Government of India, with Fazal Ali, Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, and Hridyanath Kunzru as members.

The State Reorganization Act of 1956 was passed by the central government and Vidarbha became a part of Bombay state. Shortly after this, a plan to create a "Vidarbha state" with Nagpur as the capital was recommended by the state reorganization commission. Under pressure from the leaders of western Maharashtra, Maharashtra state was formed on 1 May 1960, thus continuing Vidarbha's dominance by the Maharashtra.

Support for a separate state of Vidarbha had been expressed by Loknayak Bapuji Aney and Pt Brijlal Biyani Vidarbha. The demand for the creation of a separate Vidarbha state is based in large part on these historical facts.

Allegations of neglect by the Maharashtra state government also are part of the issue. Jambuwantrao Dhote led a popular struggle for Vidarbha statehood in the 1970s. Two politicians, N.K.P. Salve and Vasant Sathe, have led 21st century attempts to bring about a state of Vidarbha.

The demand has never enjoyed popularity as it was always raised by leaders of the Congress Party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Vidharbha.

This situation has begun to change with a young leader from Nagpur, Nitin Gadkari becoming the president of the BJP, which is a staunch supporter of a separate Vidarbha state. There have been more than 30,000 farmers who committed suicides in Maharashtra in the last decade, out of which more than 70% farmers belong to the 11 districts of Vidarbha region. This is mainly because of the infertility of the land, lack of ample amount of water resources, lack of new technologies and due to the negligence of the state government towards the farmers needs. The main crop in Vidarbha being Cotton, but the farmers growing it do not get their share from the govt., which lead to the high distress among them, leading to the massive suicides. Due to the absence of any responsible counseling either from the government or society there were many farmers who did not know how to survive in the changing economy. Such stresses pushed many into a corner where suicide became an option for them.