Mayawati writes to PM, demands Purvanchal

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 13 (ANI): The Centre's decision to initiate the process for the formation of the Telangana state has stirred up a hornet's nest, with people from different regions coming forward to demand a separate states.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has written her third letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this morning, demanding a separate Purvanchal State.

On Saturday, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said in Kolkata that the nod for Telangana did not mean that new states could be created everywhere.

Mukherjee had said, "The demand for Telangana was old and it does not mean that everywhere new states are to be created."

His comments came a day after Chief Minister Mayawati demanded the formation of the separate states of Purvanchal and Bundelkhand.

Mayawati even made up her mind to raise the issue in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, once a reply from the Central Government was received.

Purvanchal comprises chiefly of three divisions-the eastern-Awadhi region in the west, the western-Bhojpuri region in the east and the northern-Baghelkhand region in the south.

Purvanchal includes the districts of Varanasi, Chandoli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Azamgarh, Mau, Maharajganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharth Nagar and Ballia.

Bundelkhand region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion lying in the latter.

The major towns are Jhansi, Datia, Lalitpur, Sagar, Damoh, Orai, Panna, Mahoba, Banda Narsinghpur and Chhatarpur. However, the cities of Gwalior, Jabalpur and even Bhopal are under close cultural influence of Bundelkhand, especially lingustically. (ANI)