New Delhi: With Telangana issue opening up
the floodgates for demands for new states, BJP and Congress
appear to have virtually closed ranks against most of such
proposals.
A senior BJP leader, who declined to be named, said the
party was against the "mushrooming" demand for new states.
Another BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said the party supports
demand for Telangana and Gorkhaland while "other demands for
new states have not even come up for discussion within the
party."
At the Congress briefing, party spokesman Shakeel Ahmad
struck a cautious note on the formation of smaller states.
The Congress, he said, was not against the formation of
small states but it should be done only if it is necessary to
develop the regions which have lagged behind in development
parameters.
"If there are genuine concerns, party is not against
smaller states. But it should not be done simply to fulfil
political aspirations or in competition with some other new
state being formed," Ahmad said.
In private, senior Congress leaders wondered the
rationale behind carving out smaller states like Goa and
Jharkhand, pointing out their unstable nature due to politics
of defection.
UP Chief Minister Mayawati's latest gambit asking the
Centre to divide her state in three parts appears to have
alarmed both the major parties.
-PTI
First Published: Monday, December 14, 2009, 21:34