Congress proposes to split UP four ways

New Delhi, Mar 31: The Congress is examining a proposal to carve out four states from Uttar Pradesh, if it comes to power at the Centre.

This proposal is likely to find a mention in the party's manifesto for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The suggestion to split UP into four was made by the state's manifesto committee.

The proposal stated that UP should be divided into Avadh/Madhyanchal, Poorvanchal, Pashchim Pradesh and Bundelkand. The party is expected to release its national manifesto on April 2. The Congress would also release state specific manifestos.

The reason behind this decision is two-fold. Firstly such a division is expected to help the Congress, which has a minuscule presence in the state. Secondly the party feels that it would be easier to govern such a populous state if it is split 4 ways.

The party it may be recalled had put up a decent performance in the 2009 elections, when it won 21 of the 80 seats. However in the 2014 elections, the Congress could manage to retain only two seats-Amethi and Rae Bareli.

In 2011, the then chief minister of the state, Mayawati had managed to pass a resolution in the assembly to divide the state into four. However the following year after the Samajwadi Party came to power, the proposal was buried.