Agencies | Lucknow:
Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar has said Uttar Pradesh could eventually be divided into four states, while asserting that the first Chief Minister of a separate Purvanchal state should be from the Rajbhar community.
Addressing a meeting of party workers in Deoria on Sunday, Rajbhar, whose party is an ally of the BJP, urged workers to remain prepared as the political battle ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections intensifies.
Speaking to ANI later, Rajbhar said the division of Uttar Pradesh was inevitable and stated that his party would support any political formation that backed the creation of a separate Purvanchal state and supported a Rajbhar community member for the Chief Minister’s post.
He said a future division could result in four states or regions—Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Bundelkhand and Harit Pradesh.
Rajbhar argued that the Rajbhar community has a significant electoral presence across Purvanchal and said making its representation a condition of any political alliance would be important for his party.
“Once the state is divided into regions such as Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Bundelkhand and Harit Pradesh, the Rajbhar community has a significant vote share across Purvanchal. Therefore, for any party entering into an alliance, it will be a predetermined condition that the Chief Minister of the future Purvanchal state will be from the Rajbhar community,” he said.
During his Deoria address, Rajbhar also spoke about the political identity of the Rajbhar community, saying its young members could be recognised by the yellow scarves associated with the community and his party.
The SBSP chief also reiterated his demand for sub-categorisation of the 27 per cent reservation provided to Other Backward Classes (OBCs). He said he had raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought a mechanism to ensure that different OBC communities receive a share of reservation benefits based on their population.
According to Rajbhar, Modi told him that the demand had merit but faced opposition and could be considered after the completion of a caste census.
Rajbhar has been advocating the division of the existing 27 per cent OBC quota, arguing that benefits should be distributed among different backward communities according to their population.
During his speech, Rajbhar also targeted the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), alleging that successive governments had failed to adequately address the concerns of backward and deprived communities.
He said the NDA government was working for the welfare of poorer and marginalised sections and highlighted various pension and welfare schemes, claiming that their benefits were reaching beneficiaries directly.
The demand for the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh has a long political history. In 2011, the then Mayawati-led BSP government passed a resolution in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly proposing that the state be divided into four parts—Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh.
The proposal, however, did not receive approval from the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.
Earlier, in 2000, the northern mountainous districts of Uttar Pradesh were separated to form a new state, initially named Uttaranchal and later renamed Uttarakhand. The state was created under the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, following a prolonged movement for separate statehood for the hill regions.
