The opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday slammed the decision of the Mayawati-led state government to divide the state in four parts as a desperate step to reap electoral benefits in the election year.
Questioning her motive and sincerity, the parties sought to know why had Mayawati waited so long after coming to power in May 2007 to propose the division of UP.
Terming the step as “stunt”, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) UP president Surya Pratap Shahi said it was aimed at diverting people’s attention from the alleged anarchy, bad governance and corruption ridden state government.
He said the chief minister kept mum over social and economic disparity in the last four and half years of her rule; but with election nearing, this proposal was cleared by the cabinet in haste to compensate for the infamy her regime had earned.
“If the chief minister was sincere, she should have taken this step two to three years earlier and discussed the issue threadbare with all political parties,” Shahi alleged her latest step smacked of a tyrant.
Meanwhile, Congress slammed Mayawati that with electoral defeat in sight, she was adopting newer tact to divert attention and on Tuesday’s announcement was one of them.
In a joint press conference, state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Pramod Tiwari claimed Mayawati government had always opposed any proposal for smaller states in the assembly and desisted from any discussion on the issue.
They noted Congress had always espouses the cause of smaller states and created newer states earlier. The party demanded constitution of 2nd States Reorganisation Commission to give its recommendations for the creation of smaller states based on the aspirations of people.
