UP CM must be large-hearted on reorganisation issue: Jayant

Rashtriya Lok Dal General Secretary Jayant Chaudhary today said that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav should be "large-hearted" on the issue of reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh.
"The CM should be large hearted on the reorganisation issue. He is concerned with the future of his party, hence he is refusing it. Otherwise, from socio-economic and political point of view as well as for integrity of the country, reorganisation is mandatory," Chaudhary told reporters here.
He said that Akhilesh was rationalising his decision by claiming that the country would become weak if UP was divided.
Several new states were created after independence, but that did not undermine the country, he said.

Chaudhary noted that the Chief Minister was strengthening Panchayati Raj by decentralising power, creating new tehsils and this was also applicable to the case of reorganisation of the state.
RLD has been long been demanding the creation of separate 'Harit Pradesh' by combining districts of western UP.

On a query regarding CM's rejection for a separate bench of Allahabad High Court in western UP, Jayant said lawyers should demand for a separate court rather than a separate bench.
The RLD leader said that new courts would be set up only when new states were created by reorganising the state.
Commenting on the Supreme Court's appointment of new Lokayukta in UP, he said that it was unfortunate that the apex court had to interfere in the matter.

Observations made by the court over functioning of the state government were very shameful. The government's intention over the appointment of Lokayukta was not positive as it wanted to nominate an ombudsman of its choice, he said.
Regarding electoral pact for 2017 UP assembly elections, Chaudhary clarified that party president Ajit Singh had already announced that RLD would contest on its own.
He said that on the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh on December 23, RLD workers would visit villages in the state and talk about the contribution of the former Prime Minister to farmers.
The leader added that only 50 districts in the state have been declared drought-hit by the Samajwadi party government, while several others were left out.