New Delhi, August 01: UP Chief Minister Mayawati and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi seem set to clash over the creation of a Bundelkhand Development Authority (BDA). While Mayawati shot off another letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, her second in 24 hours, Rahul asserted that the Congress was determined to “do something” for the people of Bundelkhand, “whatever be the objections”.
In her letter, the Chief Minister said, “The government has come to know from media reports that the Centre has constituted Bundelkhand Development Authority which is against the provisions of the Constitution and federal polity.”
Mayawati described the reported creation of BDA as “a sly political move” and alleged that the UPA government was conspiring to impose indirect Central rule in a particular region of the state.
However, Rahul told reporters, “We (Congress) are not concerned about what Mayawati or Mulayam Singh do for the people. We have to do what we have to do. Whatever be the objections, we have to do something for the people of Bundelkhand. They have suffered a lot.”
He added: “We have submitted a memorandum to the PM. Discussion is going on on the issue and we will see how we can do it. No region of UP and MP, Orissa or any region can be left lagging behind… Something will be worked out.”
Leading a delegation of party MPs earlier this week, Rahul had submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister demanding, among other things, the creation of Bundelkhand Development Authority to oversee the development in that region. The proposal had evoked sharp reactions from Mayawati who wrote a letter to the PM stating that setting up of an inter-state authority under the administrative control of the Centre would violate the fundamental provisions of the Constitution.
–Agencies
On Friday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan too lodged a strong protest with the Prime Minister against the proposal to create BDA. Chouhan earlier said that the move was not only unconstitutional but also interfered with the affairs of states.
“Constitutionally, the proposed authority is not worth accepting,” Chouhan said in a letter to the Prime Minister, adding the state government had already constituted BDA in 2007. “Setting up of another authority would amount to duplication of efforts besides wasting a lot of money.”