Vascania NewsBhaporis Feel 'Unappreciated' Says Mohan ShrivaraFebruary 4749
Bhapor City - The recently elected mayor of Bhapor, Mohan Shrivara of the Bhapor Socialist Party, has made clear in recent interviews that he views his city and region as 'ignored' and 'unappreciated' by the federal government. He is a vocal critic of the Governor General Harijen F. and his neoconservative Action Party. Shrivara has proposed a fifteen-step programme to improve state health and infrastructure, including increasing the pay of doctors, nurses and teachers while scrapping tuition fees. He has also suggested that the nation's five most prestigious universities accent ethnic Bhaporis at increased rates.
The Minister for Internal Affairs, Jawahar Kamal, has been criticised as 'bigoted against ethnic minorities' after scrapping redistributive programmes introduced by his Social Democratic Party predecessor. He has also made comments about Bhaporis being 'poor workers' and musing about how, when he was CEO of the nation's largest gas firm, he would deliberately avoid hiring applicants with Bhapori names. He has today come out to attack Shrivara's plans as 'expensive and unrealistic':
If we had the money to invest in Bhaporistan, we already would have done it. This is not a matter of bigotry or apathy, we are completely aware of the economic situation in the region. It is people like those in the Bhapor Socialist Party who have failed to make realistic plans to improve the area.
Bhaporistan has been nicknamed the 'rust in the Imperial crown' due to its severe socio-economic woes. The state of Bhaporistan has the lowest average income in the entire country, having largely lagged behind the economic development of the wider Vascanian Empire. Absolute poverty is at 22%, as opposed to 7% nationally. The birth rate is 5.3, as opposed to a national rate of 3.1, while the infant mortality rate is twice that of the nearest state. Economic mobility is severely limited as well, with only 1.7% of people in the bottom economic quintile reaching the top quintile in their lifetime.
Some Bhaporis, especially those with minority religious beliefs and those who cannot speak Kalam or Rajutti fluently, have openly started to talk about secession. Polls show 17% support for secession, 29% support for the status quo and 51% support for serious reforms. No other state has over 5% support for secession. While still a minority position, the matter is of such concern that even Emperor Manas III has reportedly considered making a public statement against any attempts to upset the imperial status quo.