Mumbai (The Hindu): Taking a jibe at Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, senior Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue MG Vaidya on Saturday said that he would complete 100 years of his life as long as the MNS chief did not send a ‘shooter’ to kill him.

Mr Thackeray, in a rally in Mumbai on Friday, had targeted Mr Vaidya for his contention of dividing Maharashtra into four states and had said that it was time for Mr Vaidya to ‘leave the earth’.

“It is wrong to presume that if a separate state is carved out, the language will be under threat. Look at the Hindi-speaking states and the two Telugu-speaking states that we have. According to my parameters, a state’s population should not be more than three crore (for administrative reasons) and if this parameter is to be applied to Maharashtra, there should be four states (in place of Maharashtra) because of its 12-crore population,” Mr Vaidya said at an event here.

“But people do not like when I say this. Chandrakant Khaire, Shiv Sena MP, said I have grown older now. Yes, I am 93 years old. Mr Thackeray said that I would have to leave the world soon. It is true, I will have to leave this world one day but he will also have to go one fine day. But I will not go anywhere for the next seven years. I will complete 100 years of age. But if Mr Thackeray wants me to die before that then he will have to send a shooter to kill me. Otherwise I will live full 100 years of my life,” said the former RSS spokesperson.

Mr Vaidya emphasized to have the administration of a state in the local language, but called the insistence of having only one state for one language an ‘untenable contention’.

“If we have to form a single Hindi-speaking state, all the states from Chhattisgarh to Bihar and UP to Rajastan will have to be merged. It will be practically impossible to administer such a huge state then. We now have two Telugu-speaking states. But there should not have been an agitation for the separate Telangana state. As per my parameters (for the creation of state), Maharashtra can be divided into four states. But a section of media quoted me saying that break Maharashtra into four pieces. I had to tell them not to put words in my mouth. I said four states from the point of view of administrative set-up,” he claimed.

When asked if would speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding a separate Vidarbha state, the RSS ideologue answered in negative. “What is more important: the language issue or the ease of the residents of that particular region? Why should a person from interior districts like Gondia, Bhandara or Gadchiroli have to go to Mumbai? There are many states with population of more than three crore, but many states with population of less than 50 lakh. Is this a right arrangement?”