BJP ally SBSP wants division of UP

After the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), BJP ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) has also raked up the issue of division of Uttar Pradesh, saying it will make it a poll plank in 2019.

"We have been demanding a separate Purvanchal state for over 16 years. Now, as we expand our party organisation all over the state, we support the demand of division of Uttar Pradesh into four parts. We will make it an issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, reach out to the public and stage agitations to press the demand," state minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is also the SBSP chief, told PTI.

"We want Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Paschim Pradesh and Awadh Pradesh. As Uttar Pradesh has a population of over 22 crore, managing it administratively is difficult. Running the administration in small states is easy. This is an important issue. People want development and rights. Only at the time of elections, the leaders think of the people and afterwards, they forget their issues," he said.

The issue of Uttar Pradesh's division was raked up by the AAP earlier this month. AAP spokesman and MP Sanjay Singh had said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party would launch a movement to fulfil the long-standing aspiration of the people of the state.

"Uttar Pradesh is a big state, both in terms of area and population. Its population is as much as that of any big country. It has practically become very difficult to govern such a vast state," Singh had said, adding that the AAP was in favour of the state's division into four parts.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), headed by Mayawati, was once a strong supporter of the demand when the Samajwadi Party (SP) was in power in Uttar Pradesh, maintaining that smaller states could be governed better.

As the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati had first raised the issue in 2007 and her government had even adopted a resolution in the Assembly, seeking division of the state into four parts.

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress had supported the resolution brought by Mayawati in the 403-member House in November, 2011.

But as Mayawati lost power in the state in 2012 after securing just 80 seats as against 206 in 2007, the demand lost steam.

In Bundelkhand, the Bundeli Samaj is staging agitations at Mahoba, demanding a separate Bundelkhand state.

Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest number of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the country and holds a great significance in next year's parliamentary polls.