Reviving a discussion dating back nearly two decades on the division of Uttar Pradesh, minister and SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar said the nation''s most populous state will be divided into four parts after a caste census.
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, a political turncoat whose party currently allies with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, stated in Deoria, recounting the conversation he claims to have had with Modi.
"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 in carrying out the division. We will do the division after the caste census. Now tell me, should we trust the prime minister or the people of the SP, BSP, and Congress?''" Rajbhar said.
Calling on the youth to not lose courage, 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. Keep this in mind while working. Do not be misled into joining the SP, BSP or the Congress."
With Uttar Pradesh elections scheduled for early 2027, the political context of Rajbhar''s announcement and its similarity to previous demands for state division before elections is notable.
Ahead of the 2012 UP polls, then chief minister and BSP chief Mayawati not only raised the demand for the division of UP but also received approval from the state assembly for splitting Uttar Pradesh into Avadh Pradesh, Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, and Paschim Pradesh.
It was clear that Rajbhar''s talk of state division was politically motivated as he reminded the crowd, predominantly made up of Rajbhars and other backward castes, that a Rajbhar would become the chief minister when Purvanchal was established.
Rajbhars are counted among the most backward castes and hold significant influence in various 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, being the country''s most populous state, has a population of around 250 million and is geographically the fourth-largest state in India.
The demand for dividing Uttar Pradesh dates back nearly twenty years. During the BSP government, then chief minister Mayawati initially proposed splitting the state into three parts.
On January 15, 2008, Mayawati stated that her government had proposed dividing Uttar Pradesh into three states, with Purvanchal and Bundelkhand created from the existing state, contingent on the Centre''s agreement.
However, in 2011, her government submitted a proposal to the Centre to split UP into four states: 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 with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded the establishment of a Second States Reorganisation Commission.
Various parties, including the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Congress, along with numerous organisations, have raised the demand for dividing Uttar Pradesh. There have also been calls for a separate Bundelkhand state, with the proposed region spanning across both Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
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Uttar Pradesh was bifurcated in 2000 when Uttarakhand (then known as Uttaranchal) was carved out during the NDA-led Central Government.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by The Daily Jagran. Credit: PTI)