Kirti Azad demands a separate Mithila state

Cricketer-turned-BJP MP Kirti Jha Azad on Saturday demanded a separate Mithila state for Maithili speakers.

"Mithila should be a separate state if not a separate country," he said, adding he and other like-minded people will raise this issue in parliament to fulfil the old dream of a separate state for Maithili speakers comprising over a dozen districts of north Bihar, where the language is spoken.

With upcoming Bihar assembly polls not far away, the demand for creation of Mithilanchal is set to become an issue .

The population of the Mithila region is 40 million and it elects 22 MPs and 126 legislators to the 243-member Bihar assembly. Since 2000, when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, the Maithili and Bhojpuri-speaking people have been demanding separate states for their communities.