Nagpur: Youth leader and Vidarbha Joint Action Committee convener Ashish Deshmukh will observe an indefinite hunger strike here from December 6 for the cause of a separate Vidarbha state.
“It's now or never situation. If we fail to force the Union government to consider Vidarbha along with Telangana now, the people here may not get another chance at least in near future,” said Ashish, son of former Maharashtra agriculture minister and PCC president Ranjeet Deshmukh.
Ashish, also the founder of Youth for Vidarbha State, said the process for creation of Telangana state and that of Vidarbha be clubbed.
“The first States Reorganisation Commission headed by Justice Fazal Ali had recommended creation of Vidarbha as well as Telangana in 1956. So, ideally creation of both states should be considered simultaneously,” Ashish said, referring to Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's announcement that the bill for creation of Telangana will be introduced during the winter session of Parliament.
Ashish said, Telugu leader Potti Sri Ramulu, who died while on fast in 1952 for creation of Telugu-speaking state was the first “martyr” to lay down his life for creation of a separate state.
