UP to be split into 4 states, claims minister. What happened when Mayawati tried

UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar has claimed Uttar Pradesh will be split into four after the caste census. Fifteen years ago, Mayawati got the plan for Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh approved by the Assembly. But why did her four-state plan fail?UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar claimed the state will be divided into Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Bundelkhand and Harit Pradesh. (Image: PTI/ India TodayAI-edit)Uttar Pradesh (UP) has already lost a big chunk of its Himalayan territory with the creation of Uttarakhand in 2000. Now, the idea of splitting India's most-populous state into smaller units is back on the political table, if one of the ministers of UP is to be believed.UP minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar has claimed that UP will eventually be divided into four states — Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Bundelkhand and Harit Pradesh. Rajbhar, an NDA ally, also linked the proposed division to the completion of the caste census and claimed he had discussed the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.There has been no corresponding announcement from the Centre or the BJP, confirming such a plan.But Rajbhar's remarks have revived a debate almost as old as independent India itself. Fifteen years ago, then UP Chief Minister Mayawati went considerably further. She got the UP Assembly to formally approve a proposal to divide the state into four. And when the proposal reached New Delhi, it went nowhere. Addressing a public meeting in Ambedkarnagar on Sunday, Rajbhar said the division would come in the "coming days"."In the coming days, the state is going to be divided into four parts. The day a separate Purvanchal state is created, the first Chief Minister will be a son of the Rajbhar community," he said. "Keep this in mind while working. Do not be misled into joining the SP, BSP or the Congress," the minister told the youngsters of the community he belongs to. Rajbhars are an OBC community concentrated mainly in Purvanchal, particularly Ghazipur, Mau, Ballia, Varanasi, Chandauli, Azamgarh and adjoining eastern UP districts. According to estimates, around 3-4% of UP's population and 17-18% in Purvanchal, the eastern part of the state. This concentration gives the community political weight across several eastern UP constituencies.The claim comes just months ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. And the map of UP that Rajbhar is talking about stretches back decades.THE IDEA OF BREAKING UTTAR PRADESH IS DECADES OLDArguments over UP's enormous size were being heard even when India's internal map was being redrawn in the 1950s.The 1955 States Reorganisation Commission recorded a proposal from western UP legislators to divide the state. A memorandum had initially been signed by 97 MLAs from 16 western districts, although about 70 later withdrew their support. Advocates argued that UP was too unwieldy to administer efficiently and that the western districts were being neglected despite generating substantial revenues, according to the State Reorganisation Commission Report of 1955.The commission ultimately rejected the division and recommended that UP remain intact. But commission member KM Panikkar dissented, arguing for breaking up the giant state. His proposed western unit of the UP included the Meerut, Agra, Rohilkhand (Bareilly) and Jhansi divisions, with a few territorial adjustments.But, even after reorganisation of states, the argument for a divided UP never completely disappeared.Over the decades, different movements sought Purvanchal in eastern UP, Bundelkhand in the south and a western state variously called Harit Pradesh, Paschim Pradesh or Paschimanchal. The Purvanchal demand itself is several decades old, with organisations such as the Purvanchal Banao Manch and Purvanchal Rajya Sthapana Samitee campaigning for statehood.CHARAN SINGH, AJIT SINGH AND HARIT PRADESHThe western UP demand acquired an enduring political champion in the political tradition associated with former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.Former PM Charan Singh spoke of dividing UP into three states. A March 1977 India Today Magazine article noted that Charan Singh was "known to favour the division of UP" and had continued advocating the idea as deputy PM and finance minister.Later, his son and former union minister Ajit Singh turned the demand of Harit Pradesh into a recurring RLD political plank, until the party joined the BJP-led NDA.In 2009, RLD MLA Kokab Hamid told The Indian Express that Charan Singh, accompanied by nine MLAs, had argued before the States Reorganisation Commission for a separate western UP.When the Centre cleared the creation of Telangana in 2013, Ajit Singh immediately renewed the demand. He called on western UP to prepare for a "battle" for Harit Pradesh and also supported separate Purvanchal and Bundelkhand states, arguing that smaller states would improve administration and development.In 2015, he again tried to bring organisations campaigning for the division of UP onto a common platform and sought coordinated agitation for separate western UP, Purvanchal and Bundelkhand states. The demand, however, lost momentum after Ajit Singh's son, Jayant Singh, joined the BJP-led NDA in 2025 after Charan Singh was accorded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.But no UP politician took the idea of dividing UP as far as former CM Mayawati did.WHEN MAYAWATI PUT FOUR STATES TO A VOTEMayawati had raised the division issue after returning as chief minister in 2007 and wrote to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. By November 2011, with an Assembly election approaching, her BSP government decided to make the proposal formal.Her proposal envisaged Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh.On November 21, 2011, Mayawati stood up in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and moved a one-line resolution seeking the state's four-way division. The circumstances were dramatic. Opposition BJP members were in the Well of the House, while Samajwadi Party legislators were protesting over other issues. The resolution had not been listed on the day's agenda. It was passed by voice vote within about 10 minutes of being introduced, after which the House was adjourned sine die."We were able to pass the resolution of division of the state. We will now send it to the Centre soon... It is not a political stunt. We had sent a letter in 2007, and we were trying to pursue it with the Centre, but when it did not respond, we passed the resolution in the Assembly," Mayawati said. "Congress, BJP and SP are against the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh. These parties do not want development of the state.""We have done our job, now it is the Centre's responsibility," The Indian Express newspaper, quoted Mayawati as saying.That last part mattered because an Assembly resolution, by itself, could not divide Uttar Pradesh.HOW NEW STATES ARE CHALKED OUT IN INDIAUnder Article 3 of the Constitution, the power to create a new state lies with Parliament. A Bill affecting a state's area or boundaries must be introduced on the President's recommendation and referred by the President to the concerned state legislature for its views, but the Constitution does not give that legislature a veto over Parliament's decision.Mayawati's government sent its resolution to New Delhi. The Union Home Ministry, however, returned with questions. It sought details including the proposed states' boundaries and capitals, division of UP's debt, pension liabilities and allocation of All India Services officers.Mayawati accused the Congress-led UPA government of trying to delay the division of UP. The Congress-led Centre did not take the proposal forward, and months later the political equations changed. In the 2012 Assembly election, Mayawati's BSP fell from 206 seats to 80, while the Samajwadi Party swept to power, winning 224 of 403 seats. The four-state proposal gradually receded to the political margins. Two years later, in 2014, the BJP, led by PM Narendra Modi came to power.Now, more than a decade after the developments, OP Rajbhar has brought the old topic into political discourse. It's only that he has named Madhyanchal and Harit Pradesh, replacing Mayawati's nomenclature of Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh.- EndsPublished By: Sushim MukulPublished On: Sep 22, 2026 07:30 IST