Nagpur: On his first visit to Nagpur after quitting the post of Advocate General of the state, Advocate Aney addressed his first press conference in Nagpur at the Patrakar Bhawan.
He fielded a lot of questions, but with the rider that they all should be about Vidarbha. He committed to spending a lot more time not just in Nagpur here on, but in Vidarbha touring different parts.
Replying to the question about why he had resigned from the post of AG when the CM had not asked him to step down, Aney replied candidly that though he was assured of Devendra’s support he was not sure how the rest of the politicians and MLAs would react. They were baying for his blood and might well have begun impeachment proceedings against him during the Budget session of the Assembly. If he had not resigned when he did, they would have paralyzed both houses and in the end carried the motion through.
“This would be an insult to the high constitutional post of AG he was holding, that was earlier held by legal luminaries like Advocate Arvind Bobde, Advocate Manohar etc. and no distinguished lawyer would agree to hold the position afterwards.” He could not allow this to happen on his account and preferred to resign his post instead.
He paid the CM, Devendra, his legal protege of one time, a left handed compliment by stating that Fadnavis was not just a very honest politician, he was an honest person, and when he says he supports the cause of Vidarbha we should believe him.
“So it was very frustrating for me to sit and watch him being so non committal about it publicly” Aney commented.
He explained the constitutional way of going about creating a new state. It was up to Parliament to pass the resolution – so we need to garner the support of national leaders to Vidarbha creation.
It was heartening, said Aney that the first positive message on his resignation was received from CM of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal. Mayawati also supported it, he said.
Aney foresees a role for himself in lobbying for formation of Vidarbha among such leaders. “I will not be entering electoral politics for this reason” he declared.
At the end of the press meet, an antagonist of Aney stood up and demanded angrily that Aney not try to break up the state of Maharashtra. While the journalists present angrily admonished saying only journalists had the right to ask questions, a motley crowd began shouting “Vidarbha – leke rahenge”… somehow the whole tamasha looked very stage managed!
