States Bills May Not Be Taken Up

The government yesterday introduced Bills in Parliament for the creation of new states in the UP hills (Uttaranchal), south Bihar (Vananchal) and the tribal eastern part of Madhya Pradesh (Chattisgarh). The Bills are unlikely to be processed in the remainder of the Budget session and there was already trouble over the contours of Uttaranchal.

UP Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta and Punjab's ruling Akali Dal expressed reservations over the Centre's decision to include Hardwar district in the new hill state. The Akali Dal is upset because the Sikh-dominated enclave, Udham Singh Nagar, would then be a part of the new state, that could have restrictions on land ownership by persons from elsewhere. The BJP-led government is unlikely to be in any hurry to actually bring these states into being, although it also cannot afford to be seen dragging its feet on the issue, owing to its electoral commitments. The party is aware that the new states could adversely affect its political future.

 

Although the BJP could hope to form governments in the new Uttarakhand and Vananchal, it could lose its delicately poised government in Lucknow, since it has a number of seats from this region in the UP Assembly. The separation of south Bihar could also make the Rabri Devi administration in the remainder of Bihar politically stronger.

The NDA's constituent allies, the BJP, Samata and Janata Dal (United) have struggled hard to dislodge Laloo Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal in north and central Bihar.

This task could become tougher, since the BJP, at least, is stronger in south Bihar than in north or central Bihar. Within its alliance, it could cease to play a dominant role.

The separation of Chattisgarh could also end up making Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh more secure, since he has already largely neutralised Madvavrao Scindia and Arjun Singh within state politics and a host of other Congress leaders of the state - V C Shukla and S C Shukla, Motilal Vora, Kamal Nath, Ajit Jogi and Arvind Netam, among others - have a base in the Chattisgarh area.

Most of the BJP leaders, on the other hand, hail from what would be left of Madhya Pradesh.