Uttar Pradesh’s proposed reorganisation into four separate states has returned to the political spotlight after Uttar Pradesh minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar said the state could eventually be divided into Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Bundelkhand and Harit Pradesh.
Rajbhar made the remarks at public meetings in Uttar Pradesh, reigniting a debate over whether the country’s most populous state should be divided into smaller administrative units.
According to Rajbhar, the proposed four regions will represent eastern Uttar Pradesh as Purvanchal, the central region as Madhyanchal, Bundelkhand in the south and Harit Pradesh in western Uttar Pradesh. The division would happen, he said, in the future, and he linked it with the caste census. His comments are political and do not mean that a decision is made to form four states.
The idea of dividing Uttar Pradesh is not new. A formal proposal was made by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 2011 during the government of former Chief Minister Mayawati. But what it proposed was four regions Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh that were not formed as new states.
The new proposal uses the names Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Bundelkhand and Harit Pradesh and so the long-standing issue goes back into public discussion.
Rajbhar has also connected the proposed division with political representation in Purvanchal. He mentioned that if Purvanchal becomes a separate state, he wants the first Chief Minister to come from the Rajbhar community. He cited the community’s presence and political influence in eastern Uttar Pradesh while making this argument. Rajbhar’s reasoning needs to be separated from any official decision on the future administrative structure of Uttar Pradesh.
The proposal would be crucial in terms of administration if it were implemented. Uttar Pradesh spans a large geographical area with different economic structures, agricultural patterns, infrastructure requirements and development challenges. Supporters of state reorganisation have always argued that smaller administrative entities can make governance more regionally focused. Questions of resources, administrative access and regional representation have also been raised in such discussions.
Each of the proposed regions has its own economic and social characteristics. Purvanchal has a large part of eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Madhyanchal would cover the whole central part of the state, which includes the most important cities like Lucknow and Kanpur in some versions of the proposed proposals. Bundelkhand is in a region associated with water and development challenges, while the proposed Harit Pradesh would cover western Uttar Pradesh, where many farmers have significant economic ties with the National Capital Region.
The issue has been brought up again in the political calendar as the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are coming up. Rajbhar’s comments have also led to new debates among political parties and observers on state reorganisation, regional representation and electoral politics. But the creation of new states is a constitutional and legislative process that can’t be done simply by a single minister’s statement.
Rajbhar has also referred to discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the issue as well and claimed that the caste census could be linked to future decisions on state division. The comments are just Rajbhar’s perspective on the discussions and are not a signal that the Union government has decided to divide Uttar Pradesh.
At present, Uttar Pradesh is still a single state and the four-state proposal is part of a political debate. Any actual reorganisation would need to be formalised in terms of India’s constitution and a number of legislative and administrative steps are expected.
But the latest comments have put the proposed Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Bundelkhand and Harit Pradesh structure back at the front burner of political debate, a question that has been at the core of Uttar Pradesh politics for decades.
