Why Vidarbha’s concerns have taken a backseat in Maharashtra’s Winter Session

Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray with Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray at a protest against the State Government during the Winter Session of the State Assembly, outside Vidhan Bhavan in Nagpur. (PTI)

Every state legislative session provides a forum for its elected members to highlight the issues in their respective constituencies or districts. Accordingly, individuals make use of legislative tools to raise their issues. In the ongoing session, the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) put on a united front and decided to put the government on the backfoot by exposing the Nagpur Improvement Trust land scam to target Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. It also demanded the resignation of Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar for regularising grazing land to benefit private players.

While these issues were extremely important, they were raised at the cost of a serious and well-planned discussion on the Vidarbha region.

“The purpose of holding the Winter Session in Nagpur is to discuss and find solutions to problems of Vidarbha region. But that was clearly lacking in the current session. The ruling BJP and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena brought up non-issues like Sushant Singh Rajput and Disha Salian’s suicide cases. These issues have been discussed several times in Mumbai. Where was the need to discuss again?” Congress leader Nitin Raut, who hails from Nagpur in the Vidarbha region, said.

A former minister, Raut said, “Unlike other regions, Vidarbha has always got step motherly treatment. At least, during the Nagpur session, the focus should be on problems in the region. The region lacks industrial development and faces an agriculture crisis. Unemployment amongst youths is a bigger challenge in this region.”

Interestingly, Raut is not alone in voicing his displeasure. A majority of elected members, across party lines, representing the Vidarbha region echoed similar sentiments.

A senior BJP MLA from Nagpur said, “After Opposition targeted CM on NIT land scam, Shinde faction members raised Sushant Singh Rajput and Disha Salian’s suicide cases, alleging Aaditya Thackeray’s link. It was done to take attention off CM’s land scam and target Shiv Sena (UBT) and Aaditya Thackeray’s image.”

Notwithstanding the strategies and methods adopted by each political party to get ahead of the other, Vidarbha gained nothing.

When the Nagpur pact was signed in September 1953, it was made mandatory to hold one session of the State Legislative Assembly in Nagpur, which is the second capital of Maharashtra. As per the agreement, it was decided that the session in Nagpur should be of a minimum six-week duration.

While successive governments in the state, in consensus with the Opposition, kept their promise to hold the Winter Session in Nagpur every year, the duration became shorter. In the last 20 years, the average duration of the winter session has been three weeks. Occasionally, it may have extended to the fourth week.

In the past, the cotton-growing belt of Vidarbha was known as the ‘white gold’ region. The cash crop cotton, which accounted for 40 per cent of production in the country, brought prosperity to its farmers. Over the years, Vidarbha with 11 districts – Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Gondia, Bhandara, Akola, Buldhana, Washim, Yavatmal – is reeling in the face of an agrarian crisis.

The lack of irrigation infrastructure in the region has pushed farmers into financial distress. Statistics sourced through RTI by whistleblower farm activist Jitendra Ghade show Maharashtra farmers’ suicides between January to November 2021 at 2,489. In 2020, for the same period, it was 2,547. Almost 50 per cent of these farmer deaths were in the Vidarbha region.

“Maharashtra was created on May 1, 1960. But the region is still reeling under a regional backlog. Western Maharashtra dominated politics of Congress and NCP often gave Vidarbha secondary treatment,” former BJP agriculture minister Anil Bonde said. “In 2014, when BJP led by CM Devendra Fadnavis came to power, Vidarbha got special attention for the first time, both in terms of economic and agriculture development and investments,” he added.

Last month, the cabinet sub-committee chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis approved Rs 40,000 crore projects for Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts. While the tribal Gadchiroli district, which is a Naxal belt, got the Rs 20,000 crore Lloyd’s Metal Energy Ltd steel manufacturing project, Chandrapur district got the Rs 20,000 crore green tech-based Newera Chintech Solutions Pvt Ltd.

Despite promises made in the past and present, industrial development in Vidarbha has failed to make headway. Its specially designed and dedicated Buti Bori Industrial Corridor or MIHAN has not progressed as expected. The textile hub at Amravati district was planned, keeping in sight easy access to raw cotton which would help enhance farmers’ livelihoods. But despite these projects, there is no end in sight for farmers’ financial crisis.

A BJP MLA, who did not wish to be named, said, “At least one week should have been dedicated to Vidarbha discussion. The irrigation backlog has been a challenge for the past seven decades. There are 123 projects worth Rs 45,000 crore incomplete. This should have been accorded the highest priority. Even the national irrigation project at Gosikhurd, which started in 1987, is incomplete to date. But nobody wants to find solutions.”

During the session, Fadnavis told the media that his government was committed to Vidarbha and Marathwada development. “We have revived the defunct state statutory development board to effectively address the regional imbalance which was abandoned by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government,” he said.

Opposition leader Ajit Pawar held the ruling BJP and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena responsible for ignoring Vidarbha. “We don’t mind the extension of the session by one more week to focus on the region’s discussion. But the BJP has been inconsistent. It raised the separate statehood demand when in Opposition and keeps the issue in abeyance when in power,” he said.

Politically, Vidarbha is significant with 62 Assembly seats. In the 2019 Assembly polls, BJP won 29 seats, Shiv Sena four, Congress 15, NCP six, and smaller parties/independents, eight.