Lucknow, Sep 21 (PTI) Cabinet minister and NDA ally, SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, has said that Uttar Pradesh will be divided into four parts after a caste census, freshly stoking a nearly two-decade-old debate on the division of the country’s most populous state.
Speaking at the ‘Samajik Samrasta Maha Rally’ organised by the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) in Deoria on Sunday, Rajbhar claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “assured” him that the division of the state could happen after the caste census.
“We want to assure you regarding the 27 per cent reservation. I spoke with the prime minister about this,” Rajbhar, whose party is currently allied with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, said.
“He (Modi) said, ‘Om Prakash ji, your point is justified, but some people are opposing it.’ I asked him how we could move forward, and he replied, ‘I will conduct a caste census, and once we have counted the castes, there will be no difficulty,'” Rajbhar said.
He added, “The state will be divided into four parts. And on the day the Purvanchal state is formed, if the chief minister is to be from any caste, then a Rajbhar’s son will become the chief minister.” Uttar Pradesh minister and Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad dismissed the claim as misleading, saying his party was not in favour of any such furcation.
“There had been a demand to divide UP earlier, but now the state is progressing rapidly in all spheres. Further, special development funds have been allocated for regions like Bundelkhand and Purvanchal that needed handholding,” Nishad told PTI.
At a press conference in Lucknow on Monday, Akhilesh Yadav too dismissed the idea and warned against attempts to divide the country and the state.
“Those who are talking about dividing the country are also talking about dividing the state. Tomorrow, they may want to divide the country. The country is very big. We all have to work together to make our country stronger,” the SP president said.
BSP’s Uttar Pradesh chief, Vishwanath Pal, referred to the proposal for dividing UP that was cleared by the state Assembly during Mayawati’s tenure as chief minister.
“You are aware that BSP doesn’t engage in empty promises. Whatever has happened so far on the issue has happened during Behenji’s rule,” Pal told PTI. He said large districts in UP were divided during Mayawati’s tenure “so that those districts could develop better.” “That is why we feel that any substantial step in that regard would be made only when Behenji is in power in UP and Centre,” Pal said.
A Samajwadi Party leader also told PTI that such promises were “self-defeating” and said development should remain the priority.
The leader said that during the SP government, particularly between 2012 and 2017, when Akhilesh Yadav was chief minister, the state made rapid progress and set many benchmarks.
With Uttar Pradesh elections scheduled for early 2027, Rajbhar’s announcement has revived the political debate on the division of the state.
Ahead of the 2012 UP polls, then chief minister and BSP chief Mayawati raised the demand for division and received approval from the state Assembly for splitting Uttar Pradesh into Avadh Pradesh, Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, and Paschim Pradesh.
While he made the claim on division, Rajbhar reminded the crowd, predominantly made up of people of his and other backward castes, that a “Rajbhar” would become the chief minister when a Purvanchal has been established.
Rajbhars are counted among the most backward castes and wield significant influence in many eastern Uttar Pradesh regions.
“Today, at least when a Rajbhar youth wears a yellow scarf, he can be easily recognised as the son of a Rajbhar. And if anyone has given us this identity, it is Om Prakash Rajbhar,” he asserted.
Uttar Pradesh has a population of around 25 crore and is geographically the fourth-largest state in India.
The demand for dividing the state dates back nearly 20 years.
Mayawati initially proposed splitting the state into three parts.
On January 15, 2008, the BSP supremo proposed dividing UP into three states, with the other two being Purvanchal and Bundelkhand, subject to the Centre’s agreement.
In 2011, her government submitted a proposal to the Centre to split UP into Purvanchal, Paschim Pradesh, Awadh Pradesh and Bundelkhand.
In 2008, shortly before Mayawati’s statement, a delegation led by then Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi met former prime minister Manmohan Singh and demanded the establishment of a Second States Reorganisation Commission.
Several parties, including the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Congress, and many other outfits, have raised the demand for dividing Uttar Pradesh.
There have also been calls for a separate Bundelkhand, spanning parts of Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh was bifurcated in 2000 when Uttarakhand, then known as Uttaranchal, was carved out during the NDA-led central government. PTI KIS MAN VN VN
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