Mayawati demands creation of new states of Bundelkhand, Paschim UP - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday strongly demanded the Centre to create separate states of Bundelkhand and Paschim Uttar Pradesh. Addressing a press conference here, Mayawati said: "Today I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister demanding the creation of separate Bundelkhand and Paschim Uttar Pradesh." "My government and my party (Bahujan Samaj Party) are in favour of creation on smaller states and administrative units. We expressed the same many times earlier." In her letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mayawati demanded a permission to move a resolution in the Uttar Pradesh assembly for the creation of these two states on the same line of Telangana resolution. On Wednesday, the Centre had asked the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rossaih to move a resolution in the state assembly for the creation of separate Telangana state, yielding to the TRS demand. Mayawati's demand comes two days after the Centre's decision to give green signal in principle for the creation of separate Telangana. Since last 50 years there is a movement for Bundelkhand state with Jhansi as its capital. Bundelkhand region is covers some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The population of this region is apprx. 5 crores. In spite of being rich in minerals, the people of Bundelkhand are very poor and backward because of lack of enough representation in the state and Central politics. The local parties and local leaders are running several movements having different names. Few movements are for its development, few are for its formation as a state." Bundelkhand akikrit party and Bundelkhand Mukti Morcha are two political organisations active for this cause. Mayawati also expressed her full support to the pro-Bundelkhand and Paschimi Uttar Pradesh movement but urged the people to raise the issue in a democratic way and not to take law into hands. In West Bengal the demand for the creation of separate Gorkhaland has also become stronger with activists sitting on a 96-hour fast in Darjeeling.