Lucknow, Dec 14 (IANS) After Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said she was in favour of statehood for Bundelkhand, an organisation from the backward region that straddles Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh has announced an agitation to push their demand for a separate state.
Bundelkhand Mukti Morcha (BMM) convenor Raja Bundela, addressing reporters here Monday, said that political parties were playing politics with their region, which consists of around 50 million people.

“Too much of politics was being played by both ruling parties - in Lucknow as well as at the centre (over Bundelkhand) and it is evident that neither is committed to addressing the real issue of giving statehood to us,” Bundela said, referring to Mayawati and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi has asked the central government for a Rs.7,000 crore special package for development of the region.

“These are no solutions, rather these are only sops which have no meaning for those who have been looking forward to independent statehood,” he added.

To press their demand, Bundela said they would hold a major demonstration at Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh on Dec 16.

“The demonstration will culminate in a 300-km padyatra (walkathon) that will commence on Dec 16 from Chitrakoot and conclude at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh on Jan 1,” Bundela said.

“The idea behind the padyatra is to express solidarity of the people of Bundelkhand region, that is spread across these two states,” he said.

Bundela showed reporters copies of the covenant signed by the then rulers of 35 independent states of the region whereby they resolved to merge with the Indian Union after independence.

“As per this covenant, all these erstwhile princely states were to merge into a single independent state. However, the then union government chose to leave these scattered between UP and MP.”

He claimed that 52 percent people belonging to the region had migrated to other states due to lack of development of the area. “The region is so rich in natural resources that it will not take time to become economically on the top.”