Demand does not mean new states everywhere: Pranab Mukherjee

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that the demand for smaller states does not mean that new states would be created everywhere. "The demand for Telangana is 60 years old. This does not mean everywhere new states are to be created," Mukherjee told reporters after inaugurating a new hospital here in North 24 Parganas.

He said that as far as Telangana was concerned home minister P Chidambaram had made a statement that "there were stages for formation (of a state). These are preliminary stages."

A state, he said, has to express its views because the president would like to know it before recommending a Bill to be considered in Parliament, he said.