Decode Politics: Why Mayawati’s west UP statehood promise has ruffled feathers

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati’s remark at an election rally on April 14 about carving out west Uttar Pradesh as a separate state has shifted the focus on the demand for the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh even as most of the other parties remain uneasy and non-committal on the issue.

This is not the first time that the demand has been raised. From time to time, parties and leaders from different regions of the state have raised statehood demands. The demand for Paschimanchal, especially from west UP leaders, Purvanchal or the eastern part of the state, and Bundelkhand have emerged at various times in the past.

When did the issue come up last?

The last time “concrete steps” on the issue of reorganising Uttar Pradesh were taken was in 2011 when the Mayawati government passed a resolution in the Assembly. The resolution proposed to divide the state into west UP, central UP, east UP and Bundelkhand, citing the ease of administration. The BSP government also took initial steps to carve out three new districts – Panchsheel Nagar, Prabudh Nagar, and Bhim Nagar – in west UP.

In 2019, the BSP and the Samajwadi Party (SP) contested the Lok Sabha polls in alliance and collectively won six seats in the region. While Bijnor, Nagina, and Amroha were won by the BSP, the SP emerged victorious in Moradabad, Sambhal, and Mainpuri.

What happened to the resolution?

UP’s division is seen as a sensitive subject among political circles as it sends the highest number of MPs — 80 — to Parliament and its division seemingly upsets their calculations.

Since reorganisation features in the central list, Mayawati’s 2011 resolution was never pursued further as the Congress-led UPA government did not pay much heed to it. Moreover, apart from the