Now, rumours of UP's division to ‘limit Yogi Adityanath to Purvanchal’

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 14

After reports of the central leadership “cutting to size” the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during his visit to the national capital last week, power corridors of Lucknow are again abuzz, this time with speculation about “UP being bifurcated in 3-4 smaller states”, somewhat on the lines of BSP supremo Mayawati’s proposal as the CM.

In November 2011, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly had passed a proposal to split the state into four parts – Purvanchal (21 districts), Bundelkhand (7 districts), Awadh Pradesh (21 districts), and Paschim Pradesh (26 districts). Though Adityanath has on an earlier occasion rejected any such plan to divide the state, saying that his government believes in “uniting and not dividing”, rumours are that a message on similar lines was conveyed to him by the leadership during his recent two-day visit to Delhi.       

While Mayawati’s proposal was dismissed by most parties, including the BJP, as “political gimmick”, the saffron party is said to be “always in favour of small states formed after following proper procedure, groundwork and discussions on economic and developmental issues” for their better management and progress. Incidentally, late Ajit Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal was also in favour of a ‘Harit Pradesh’ being carved out in western UP, which is now the hub of farm politics in the state.

Whether such an exercise is possible, or plausible, remains to be seen, the interesting part is that this speculation has also stemmed out of reports of “differences between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adityanath on various issues”. The bifurcation of the state is being seen as a way to “limit Adityanath to Purvanchal”, his key support region. 

Apparently the central leadership is upset over the way the high-profile Chief Minister had been managing the BJP affairs in the state and the way he has been doing his public outreach “without giving due prominence to the PM”. 

Much was read into PM not wishing Adityanath publicly on his birthday a couple of days back, the colour of ‘kurta’ (green) that Home Minister Amit Shah wore when Adityanath called on him in Delhi and a relatively under-toned/muted response by senior leaders to his Delhi visit.