Two days after Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers from Bundelkhand raised a demand for creation of a separate state in the just concluded winter session of the state legislature, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh ruled out further division of Uttar Pradesh saying it was not required.
“There is no need to further divide Uttar Pradesh into separate states. This state has no dearth of resources. It can take care of its needs,” Singh said at the Gaurav Samman function here on Sunday.
“Some people say that if UP is divided into four parts it can progress better. I question them as tomorrow they might come up with an argument that divide the country into different parts and it will progress better. Should we accept that?” the Union Home Minister said.
“A unified Uttar Pradesh has strength within itself. This state has no dearth of resources. The state has potential to generate employment and lead India to a better future,” he said, adding that the population of Uttar Pradesh was its real strength and the need was to find technology to utilise it.
On Friday, all the BJP legislators from Bundelkhand had demanded creation of a separate state, creating a flutter in the state assembly. The legislators said that the region was deprived of basic facilities and unless a separate state was carved out it would not progress.
The demand, however, was rejected by the government and subsequently by Speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit.
Rajnath Singh, who represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha, said there was no need for carving out a state of Bundelkhand from Uttar Pradesh. “The local legislators might have raised this issue in the state assembly but there is no need to get alarmed by this demand,” he said.
Incidentally, when Rajnath Singh was the Chief Minister of UP in 2000, Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh.
At the same time, two more states, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, were created.
The BJP has always advocated creation of smaller states, saying it is easier to govern smaller states.
There is a demand for dividing Uttar Pradesh into Harit Pradesh (western UP), Poorvanchal (eastern UP), Bundelkhand and Awadh. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has supported this demand.
Earlier, Singh honoured prominent personalities of the state in the Gaurav Samman Sammelan held here. He said these awards were true recognition of the work these prominent personalities had done for the welfare of society.