BSP-Congress on collision course

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati has taken strong exception to the move and has shot off a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alleging that it was an attempt to “impose Central rule” on Bundelkhand.

“A centrally controlled council/authority for Bundelkhand will hit at the very basis of centre-state relations and also violate the provisions of the Constitution,” Mayawati said in her letter, second in two days.

She said that the objective of the formation of the authority was to limit the role of state government on the grounds that it was a contiguous physical area which required integrated development. “Such packages had been sanctioned in the past also for different parts of the country like Uttarakhand, Himanchal Pradesh and  Vidarbha, but they were never under the direct control of the government of India,” Mayawati pointed out.

She urged the political parties not to “play politics” on the issue as it would only hurt the development of Bundelkhand.

State Congress leaders appeared to be upbeat over the move and said that it indicated the “first step towards the creation of a separate state of Bundelkhand, carving districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.” The Congress is in support of creation of a separate state of Bundelkhand. Union minister of state for rural development and MP from Jhansi Pradeep Jain Aditya had in 2007 moved a proposal in the UP assembly in this regard.

Although the BSP also favours creation of a Bundelkhand state, it would under no circumstances allow the Congress to take the credit.

With the ties between the two parties hitting a new low after the recent LS polls, the move to create a central authority for Bundelkhand could trigger a renewed verbal duel between them.

DH News Service