The BJP-led NDA had carved out Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh from UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh respectively, giving rise to speculation that it might favour further division of the largest state.
skirted the issue though the party even recently used to emphasise on giving recognition to regional aspirations, which, in other words, meant decentralisation through smaller states.
The BJP-led NDA had carved out Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh from UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh respectively, giving rise to speculation that it might favour further division of the largest state.
But, its 2017 UP poll manifesto is silent on the issue and speaks only about setting up Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal development boards if voted to power in UP.
All the more interesting is the fact that Ajit Singh's RLD, which used to sing the Harit Pradesh tune during every election, is silent on the issue which even five years ago was central to campaigning by almost all political parties barring SP.
Besides RLD, Raja Bundela's Bundelkhand Congress, Kalyan Singh's erstwhile Jan Kranti Party, Amar Singh's now defunct Rashtriya Lok Manch and Ayub Khan's Peace Party -- all pitched for division of the state -- but most of them drew a blank in the Assembly elections in 2012.
While Mayawati's strength dropped to 80 seats from 206, RLD got nine - one less than the previous tally, and Peace Party could get only four.
On the other hand, Samajwadi Party, the only party to oppose the demand, stormed to power with a landslide victory, bagging 224 of the 403 Assembly seats.
Analysts said one reason could be the fact that people took pride in being residents of one of the country's biggest state and did not wish to give up that identity.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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