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Rajnath on smaller states

Hindustan Times | ByBK Parashar, Lucknow
Jan 03, 2010 11:25 PM IST

Former Bhartiya Janata Party national president, Rajnath Singh advised political parties to exercise caution and behave responsibly while demanding creation of smaller states, reports BK Parashar.

Former Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) national president, Rajnath Singh on Sunday advised political parties to exercise caution and behave responsibly while demanding creation of smaller states. He cogently defended the party's sharing power with Sibu Soren in Jharkhand and indicated that the party's state unit here would be reorganized within a month or two.

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Interaction with media persons at his Kalidas Marg residence here on his first visit after he ceased to be the party's national president last month, Singh said the issue of creation of smaller states was a sensitive issue with serious implications. He said political parties and individual leaders should show responsibility while raising any demand for a new state, keeping in view its repercussions.

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Singh said the best way was to set up a state reorganization commission to look into to demands for separate states, examine each case separately and recommend accordingly. "It will not be correct to consider demand for any new state including division of UP till a state reorganization commission is set up and it makes a recommendation in favour of any such demand, said the former chief minister. He however, defended the case of Telengana, saying it was different case altogether. "All major political parties including the BJP have a commitment to the formation of a separate Telengana state and the new proposed state must see the light of the day," he maintained.

Singh defended the party's decision to form the government in Jharkhand in an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) saying the party had taken a well-considered political decision under the circumstances. "We had only two options of either allow the Congress to come to power in the state or let the state come under the President' rule which also would have been a Congress rule indirectly and then force people poll again after six months," he explained. He claimed that the BJP had a respectable share in power with the Vidhan Sabha Speaker being from the BJP.

Replying to a question Singh said the process to reorganize the BJP' UP unit would be completed in next one or two months. It may be noted that a three-year term of State president, Ramapati Ram Shashtri, a close confidante of Rajnath Singh, ended in December and now search for a new president is already on.

RSS Chief, Mohan Bhagwat will be visiting the State Capital next week. He is scheduled to have discussions with party leaders here during his one-week stay apparently to discuss appointment of a new state party president, among other things. Singh would obviously lobby to get new president of his liking in the politically crucial state and he said to be sounding party leaders for this purpose, during his three-day sojourn here.

In response to another question, he said the government did not seem to be exiting in Uttar Pradesh where criminals, he alleged were ruling the roost.

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