Upsetting the electoral strategies of all her political rivals, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Tuesday unveiled her plan to divide the state into four parts.
Upsetting the electoral strategies of all her political rivals, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Tuesday unveiled her plan to divide the state into four parts.
She declared that a resolution to this effect will be adopted in the UP assembly in the winter session beginning on Monday. The state cabinet ratified the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday before Mayawati made the announcement. DNA was the first to report on November 5 that this move was in the offing.
Mayawati said the cabinet had approved a resolution for the creation of Purvanchal (eastern UP), Bundelkhand (southern UP), Awadh Pradesh (central UP) and Pashchim Pradesh (western UP), which will be tabled in the assembly session. “As per schedule 3 of the Constitution, the Centre has to take a decision with regard to renaming, reorganisation or creation of new states,” Mayawati said.
Mayawati said UP’s population had grown to about 19.95 crore — 16% of the country’s population — and it was high time the state was divided into smaller units for better administration. “The Centre has taken no initiative in this regard even though I have written to the prime minister several times. The demand is also in keeping with the aspirations and ambitions of these regions. Because of its huge size, the state has remained backward and its development has been lopsided.”
Her move is seen as an attempt to cash in on the sentiments in favour of smaller states in the western and eastern regions and the Bundelkhand area of the state during the assembly elections. Mayawati’s arch rival, the Samajwadi Party, is strongly opposed to the division, while Congress had sought to counter her, saying she take the initiative instead of just writing letters to the Centre.
“This is an election stunt to fool the people, and also a political conspiracy,” SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said. Disputing Mayawati’s claims that a small state ensures better governance and balanced growth, he said that the decision had nothing to do with development. “Development depends on the government’s intentions,” he said. The SP chief said BSP has always believed in creating rifts. “It’s only aim is to create divisions in society, and now, it wants to divide the state.”
The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which has been campaigning vigorously for a separate Pashchimanchal state in west UP, also sees in it a political design. RLD spokesman Anil Dube said they are aware that Mayawati’s intentions are “not noble” but still his party will support the proposal in the Vidhan Sabha.
The BJP, which has favoured setting up of a states reorganisation committee in support of smaller states, faces a piquant situation as it appears to be divided whether to support Mayawati’s proposal or not.
Former BJP president Rajnath Singh and national vice-president Kalraj Misra, during their jan swabhiman yatras, had been attacking her on the issue, but they find themselves in a spot now as opposing the move would be politically unviable for the party.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}