Lucknow, November 15
In a decision of far reaching consequences, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today announced the tabling of a resolution in the forthcoming winter session of the state Assembly (scheduled from November 21) to carve out four smaller states.

A Cabinet meeting chaired by her earlier in the day passed the proposal to introduce the resolution in the Assembly session.

The final call on the resolution has to be taken by the Central Government which is already faced with a similar demand for independent Telangana.

In a brief address to the media after the meeting, Mayawati said the cabinet decided to divide the state into four new states, namely Purvanchal (East UP), Pashchim Pradesh (West UP), Bundelkhand and Awadh Pradesh (Central UP). Substantiating the need for the division of Uttar Pradesh for better governance, she said the latest census figures (2011) revealed that UP’s population was now around 19.95 crore.

“Almost 16 per cent of the country’s population lives here which has a vast land mass of 2,40,928 sq km, making it unmanageable”.

Putting the ball in the Central Government’s court, she said as per the Constitution, the final decision on re-organisation, division and renaming of states had to be taken by Parliament.

Though the opposition parties have described the move as a political gimmick, it is sure to upset their calculations in the poll-bound state. Political analyst see this as an attempt on part of the ruling party to counter anti-incumbency, divert public attention from corruption charges and put the opposition parties in a tight spot.

Samajwadi Party state president Akhilesh Yadav has confirmed the party’s official stand of opposing the resolution on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha.

The Congress and the BJP have maintained a seemingly middle-of-the-road stand on the issue. Both AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh and former BJP national president Rajnath Singh had demanded the constitution of a state reorganisation committee to decide on the issue.

“Why has CM Mayawati not bothered to take any action on three proposals demanding smaller states pending before the Vidhan Sabha for the past four years?” Pramod Tiwari, UP Congress Legislature party leader said.

“The creation of states is not just a geographical decision at the whims and fancies of an individual. It requires much deliberation on the fair division of natural man-made and human resources,” stated Rita Bahuguna Joshi, UPCC state president.