JOIN USBy seeking information in detail on certain key issues pertaining to the UP government’s proposal of state division, the UPA has made an attempt to put BSP supremo Mayawati in a tight spot.
The UPA has tried to show her regime in ‘poor light’ and prove that the proposal has been sent in a huff without much preparation and merely with the intention of gaining political mileage in the forthcoming polls.
“Mayawati had sent the ball to the Centre's court, but the latter has cleverly sent it back to her and now it appears that it will remain there, at least till the polls”, political observers said.
Mayawati had attempted to kill many birds with a single stone through her ‘UP-division card’, said a BJP leader here. “She tried to expose the Samajwadi party, which was opposed to any division and also stump the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which also did not approve the hurry”, the leader said.
“Now, the chief minister will feel the pressure.... If she does not furnish the information sought by the Centre, it will mean that she is not at all serious about the proposal and that she had not done her home work before sending the proposal.”
Political observers, on the other hand, said that it was not that easy to give answers to the Centre's queries. “The task is not only difficult to achieve in a short period, but it is also fraught with political dangers.”
“The queries pertain to several sensitive issues, which have the potential to ignite political passion ahead of the polls and could spell trouble for Mayawati”, they said.
“The centre wants to know about the proposed capitals of the new states, dividing the debts, the boundaries of the new states as well as the districts to be included in each of the new states and also whether any feasibility study was made before making such a proposal.... All these issues are very very sensitive.”
“The Congress-led UPA has tried to prove that Mayawati did not really want division of the state... It is merely a political gimmick... Had she been serious, her government would have carefully prepared a solid ground for the division of UP into four parts”, said a BSP leader.
“Mayawati will not like to burn her fingers by replying to all such queries at a time when the Assembly polls are so near”, another BSP leader said, as he pointed to the resentment among a section of the population after the new district of Bheemnagar was created.