Dhampur: BJP leader LK Advani said he
felt that "politics of votes" seemed to be the motivation
behind Chief Minister Mayawati's move to create four states
out of Uttar Pradesh but any such decision should only be
taken only after proper consultations.
"This decision can only be taken by the central
government and it cannot just happen just because a Chief
Minister has said it," Advani said here without naming
Mayawati.
"Sometimes, it seems such demands are raised keeping in
mind the benefit in terms of votes. Politics of votes should
be kept aside and the matter should be discussed in all
seriousness," Advani said while addressing a gathering here.
"I will speak neither in favour nor against the division
of Uttar Pradesh but I would say that any step should be
thoroughly thought about first," he added.
Advani, whose country wide campaign entered Bijnor district
of UP today, said "I believe that there is a time for
everything and when the right time comes, it will happen."
"There was a demand for one state and it was done. In
our manifesto, we had told the people that when our government
is formed at the Centre, we will create Uttarakhand," Advani
said referring to the issue of division of UP.
"People ask me that the Chief Minister has mentioned the
division of the state in four parts, what is your opinion?
Where this has suddenly come from I don't know.
Advani said he used to regularly visit Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and Madhya Pradesh and "in all the three states people
used to say that these are very big states and they should be
made smaller.
"When I used to visit Bihar, people used to say
Jharkhand should be created. During my visits to Madhya
Pradesh, people used to say that MP may not be very big
population wise but it has a huge area so there should be
Chhattisgarh.
"On entering Uttar Pradesh, people used to say that
Lucknow never pays any attention to the hilly areas, so there
should be Uttarakhand," Advani said.
"I used to tell them that Congress would not create
these states but when we come to power at the Centre, we will
do it and in 1998 we did it," Advani told the gathering.
Advani asked his party workers to focus on UP assembly
elections due next year saying "Uttar Pradesh is the biggest
state in the country so what happens here it is very
important. What happens here affects the entire country and it
depends on you".
"Candidates should be chosen very carefully and those
with credentials of dishonesty should be left out," he said.
Advani also mentioned his controversial Ram Rath yatra
in his speech.
"During the Prime Ministership of Nehru, the Somnath
Mandir, which was demolished by foreign invaders, was rebuilt.
In the same manner, we wanted that during Nehru's grandson
Rajiv's time, why is not such a temple built in Ayodhya. I
started with that purpose in mind but was stopped in
Samastipur by the then Bihar Chief Minister (Lalu Prasad).
"Imagine the change now that this time when I started, it
was the current Bihar Chief Minister who flagged off my
yatra," Advani said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, November 18, 2011, 23:59