After Telangana, clamour to divide UP

BSP chief Mayawati reiterated her demand to divide UP into four new states, while RLD chief Ajit Singh pressed for the creation of Harit Pradesh in western UP

As decks were cleared for creation of a separate Telangana state, there was a clamour today for reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh with Union Minister Jairam Ramesh saying the "current structure" of the state is "ungovernable" administratively.

BSP chief reiterated her demand to divide UP into four new states, while Civil Aviation Minister and RLD chief Ajit Singh pressed for the creation of Harit Pradesh in western UP.

BJP's Uma Bharti demanded a separate Bundelkhand and Congress MP Jagdambika Pal batted for Poorvanchal in eastern UP.

The government, on the other hand, said it has not "given any thought" so far to demands for newer states.

"To the best of my knowledge, the government has not given any thought to that. The Telangana case is a standalone case," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters in response to questions on demands for smaller states after Congress and UPA endorsed creation of Telangana.

But Ramesh suggested that UP's reorganisation was necessary as it is difficult to run such a big state effectively.

"Purely from an administrative point of view, a state of over 200 million people, 75 districts, over 800 blocks...It's just not governable. It is my personal view...Its politics is a separate issue," he said, adding, "Telangana was not an administrative decision. It had a political context."

Mayawati said,, "BSP has always been in favour of smaller states for which it had sent a proposal duly passed by the state Assembly on November 23, 2011, when it was leading the government, for splitting Uttar Pradesh into four states in order to ensure better governance and administration.