Division of UP: Mayawati, Mulayam hold contrary opinion

Lucknow, Jan 15 (UNI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav have contrary opinions on the trifurcation of the state with the former supporting it and the latter terming it as an ''uncalled for'' move.

Ms Mayawati today reiterated Bahujan Samaj Party's demand for trifurcation of the state by creation of separate states of Bundelkhand, Poorvanchal and western UP.

''BSP has always been in the support of smaller states and thus the present big state like UP could be divided into smaller states,'' she told reporters after cutting the cake on the occasion of her 52nd birthday.

She said it was up to the Centre to create the new states as the BSP will support it by passing the required resolution from the state assembly.

''BSP will be too happy for the creation of the smaller states as our ideologue Baba Saheb B R Ambedkar had also supported the smaller state concept for better administration,'' she claimed.

The BSP supremo was replying to a question on the move by the Congress to create the seperate Bundelkhand state.

'' During the creation of the separate Uttarakhand state, BSP never opposed it'', she further maintained.

But at the same time, former chief minister and Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav outrightly rejected the suggestion of the Chief Minister about the division of the most populace state into smaller states.

''Neither this is possible nor practical and my party would always be opposed to it,'' the SP supremo told reporters here this afternoon.

The SP president described Mayawati's assertion in this regard as 'uncalled for'. He said the division of the state would not help people in any way.

Mr Yadav said the example should be drawn from other newer states which had been carved out from other bigger states. ''These smaller states have not been able to function in the manner they should have and did not progress enough to earn independent identity,'' he argued.

Earlier, during the creation of Uttarakhand in 2000, SP had opposed the division of the state.

While UP Congress had recently moved a private member's bill in the state assembly supporting division of UP, a group of UPCC leaders had met the Prime Minister last week demanding creation of a separate Bundelkhand state.

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