Ramesh makes strong pitch for division of UP

 Union Minister Jairam Ramesh today made a strong pitch for the division of Uttar Pradesh, a demand often voiced by BSP.

The remarks from the key Congress strategist came close on the heels of Parliament nod for separate Telangana and at a time when a section of the party is batting for an alliance with Mayawati's party in UP in the Lok Sabha polls.

"This is my personal opinion for the last 15 years that good governance is not possible in Uttar Pradesh. Good governance is very difficult in today's Uttar Pradesh. We should ponder over the future of Uttar Pradesh," Ramesh, who played a significant role in the division of Andhra Pradesh, said.

He also took a jibe at BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to emphasise the need for the division of the state.

"Even that man who claims that he has a magic wand could not show good governance in a state having more than 20 crore population and 72 districts."

His statement came a day after Mayawati supported the Telangana Bill in the Rajya Sabha. Participating in the debate on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 , she had said her party supported smaller states as they would enable better governance and speedy development.

When BSP was in power in Uttar Pradesh, the state assembly had passed a resolution for bifurcating the state into smaller regions, she had said.

In November, 2011, then then Mayawati government had adopted a resolution in the state Assembly supporting division of the state into Bundelkhand, Pashchim Pradesh, Purvanchal and Paschim Pradesh.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister had also suggested setting up of state reorganisation commission to look into the demand for creation of new states.However, ruling Samajwadi Pary is opposed to the division of states, saying that such administrative units are prone to problems due to lack of resources.