Pro-Vidarbha activists raise slogans at Gadkari's rally

Union minister and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday expressed anger over some people raising slogans at a public meeting here in support of a separate Vidarbha state and threatened to get them "spanked and thrown out" from the event.

Gadkari lost his cool when some people raised the slogans during his speech at the meeting, which was also attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, among others.

When Gadkari started speaking, some pro-Vidarbha activists sitting in the crowd began raising slogans, demanding statehood for the region in eastern Maharashtra.

They also threw pamphlets in the media enclosure.

Irked over the shouting of slogans for a separate Vidarbha state, Gadkari asked them to keep quiet.

Thereafter, the Union minister said, "If they make noise again, spank them, remember stop shouting or all of you will be spanked and thrown out. Take them all out."

Nagpur should be developed as the second capital and "we want to take Nagpur and Vidarbha forward together and put them prominently on the world map," Gadkari told the gathering.

The senior BJP leader said he is happy that under the leadership of Fadnavis, Nagpur and Vidarbha are witnessing all-around development.

Both Gadkari and Fadnavis hail from Nagpur, the second capital of the state and the region's biggest city.

The cotton-growing region, which comprises nearly a dozen districts, has been witnessing a movement for statehood since decades.

The BJP supports the demand for Vidarbha statehood, but its ally the Shiv Sena is vehemently opposed to any division of Maharashtra.