CM Fadnavis should resign if he supports Vidarbha statehood: Raj Thackeray

“The CM should come out clean on whether he supports a separate Vidarbha. In a 2013 post made on his profile on Facebook, he has claimed to have voted for a separate Vidarbha during a referendum. Have you done so? What do you have to say about this picture? If you are supporting a separate Vidarbha, you have no right to be Maharashtra’s chief minister. He should resign immediately. His cabinet should seek his resignation,” Thackeray said during a press conference at his residence in Dadar.

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He also claimed that there was a conspiracy being hatched in Nagpur to split Maharashtra into smaller states. “Today, they are demanding a separate Vidarbha. Tomorrow, they will demand separate Marathwada and in the end, they will tear away Mumbai from the state. This conspiracy is being hatched in Nagpur,” Thackeray said.

He also lambasted the Shiv Sena and said, “Shiv Sena does not know whether it should behave as a ruling party or an opposition party. The Shiv Sena cannot let go of power. They come together when they want to make money and on the streets oppose each other.”

The MNS leader, who has been hit by large-scale dissensions by senior leaders in the last 18 months, has been increasingly trying to raise the party’s fortunes before the municipal elections in Maharashtra’s major cities, including Mumbai.

On Sunday, he had claimed that the Congress government had been better than the BJP. He was angry over the absence of flowers and decorations at the Hutatma Smarak in Mumbai, which is deemed as a symbol of the 1960s struggle for a unified Maharashtra.

“Every year the memorial is decked with flowers. The state government carries out that exercise. This year, you could not see a single flower on that spot. This is a shameful moment for this government. I am sorry to say that the the Congress government was more acceptable…” Thackeray had said.

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