When UP chief minister Mayawati got a resolution passed in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on November 22, 2011, seeking division of the state into four smaller states; she hoped that the issue would help her ride back to majority in the Assembly elections.
Sadly, the division of state has not emerged as an issue in the first five phases of election and is unlikely to become one in the remaining two phases.
In Purvanchal, the Amar Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Manch did not figure in the main contest even though Mr Singh had relentlessly campaigned for a separate Purvanchal state. The contest in Purvanchal remained four cornered between SP, BSP, BJP and Congress and Rashtriya Lok Manch could not nudge its way in.
“The campaign for Purvanchal lacks leadership and ground support. Those who started the movement have either died or retired and the people prefer status quo content with what they have or do not have,” says Prof R.K. Tiwari, a professor at Gorakhpur University.
At his press conference in Varanasi, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi declined to comment on the division of UP saying that he was not an expert on the issue.
In Bundelkhand, actor Raja Bundela, who heads the Bundelkhand Congress, has been waging a battle for statehood since the past one-and-a half decade. His campaign focuses on the lack of development and need for statehood but his party, according to reports, is unlikely to perform as per his expectations.
“People know that unless the centre wants, Bundelkhand cannot get statehood. People will be happy if they get development instead of statehood,” says Vishnu Srivastava a local lawyer in Jhansi.