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This is an archive article published on July 8, 2007

Create new states, split huge UP: Cong opens a window

A second State Reorganization Commission (SRC) — the first one was in 1953 — which will explore the creation of new states...

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A second State Reorganization Commission (SRC) — the first one was in 1953 — which will explore the creation of new states and, significantly, also the division of Uttar Pradesh, could be appointed any time after the Presidential elections.

The Congress has sounded out some of its partners in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and will consult others for a consensus, a highly placed party source has confirmed to The Sunday Express.

A senior official of the Ministry of Home Affairs declined to comment but did not deny the move. Demands for statehood are politically very sensitive and so the government is very cautious.

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But the Congress leadership is increasingly of the view that a second SRC is necessary for “political stability” in the country — and in the party’s own interests. Simmering tension in Telengana and the party’s complete rout in the biggest state, Uttar Pradesh, have pushed the Congress towards revisiting the issue.

The party had promised the formation of a second SRC on several occasions, particularly when loud demands for statehood from regions such as Telengana in Andhra Pradesh and Vidarbha in Maharashtra were heard. There is a resolution of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), too, on this.

Regions aspiring to be states in the country are many. Telengana is the most recent example. Harit Pradesh, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal in Uttar Pra-desh, Gondwana with portions of Andhra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gorkhaland in the hill districts of West Bengal and Kodagu in Karnataka have raised demands at different points. Some of these regions even have their own development councils. Even Delhi and Puducherry, territories with Chief Ministers are not fully states.

Congress strategists feel it would be politically wise to push the idea of reorganizing states. In any case, by not doing it, the party stands to lose. Congress is caught in a fix on Telengana and Vidarbha because the Congress state units are divided on the issue. After the party’s victory in local body elections in Andhra Pradesh, Congress thought the Telengana issue would lose steam but it did not and could be a key issue in the next elections.

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In Vidarbha, the party had to do some last-minute firefighting before the last Lok Sabha elections to hold together leaders from the region who demanded an assurance from Sonia Gandhi on statehood. But the most significant incentive for smaller states comes in Uttar Pradesh. The Assembly results were a rude shock to the party and a section in the party feels that smaller states carved out of it could make the party “politically viable.” The cases for Harit Pradesh comprising 22 districts in Western UP, Purvanchal with 17 districts in South Eastern UP have been strong. The UP government in 2000 announced a Purvanchal Economic Zone.

RLD leader Ajit Singh, who has been demanding Harit Pradesh, is a potential Congress ally in the next polls. Within the ruling coalition, the idea will have takers in NCP, RJD and DMK. The Left is not very enthusiastic, the BJP is an avowed supporter of smaller states.

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