Demand for new states not to be considered now: Sushilkumar Shinde

NEW DELHI: Demands for creation of new states cannot be "considered immediately", Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said in response to a question on the status of such proposals in the wake of the Telangana decision.

"Many states are requesting separation... in Maharashtra there is (the demand for) Vidarbha, in West Bengal, there is a call for a separate Darjeeling and Gorkhaland, in Uttar Pradesh, there is a (demand for) four states.

"There have been demands... (but) they cannot be considered immediately. As and when it is needed, we will consider (them)," Shinde told reporters here.

According to official data, demands for separate states have come from across the country -- for Kukiland in Manipur to Kongu Nadu in Tamil Nadu and for Kamtapur in North Bengal to Tulu Nadu in Karnataka.

Except for UP, which during the Mayawati-led BSP regime, had proposed to create four new entities after dividing the country's most populous state, no state government has given any recommendation for carving out a new state.

The demands in UP call for the state to be divided into Awadh Pradesh, Poorvanchal, Bundelkhand and Pachimanchal or Harit Pradesh.

There is also a demand for the creation of a Braj Pradesh, comprising the Agra and Aligarh divisions of UP along with the districts of Bharatpur and Gwalior from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, respectively.

A demand for the creation of Bhojpur, comprising areas of eastern UP, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, has also been received by the Home Ministry.

Further, there has been an old agitation for creation of a separate Vidarbha by carving out the Vidarbha region from Maharashtra.