Describing Bundelkhand region as one of the most backward areas in India, former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Sulkhan Singh on Thursday said that the continuous neglect of the region forced him to form the Bundelkhand Loktantrik Party, which centres on the demand of a separate State of Bundelkhand. The political outfit claims that the proposed State of Bundelkhand would combine 15 districts, seven from U.P. and eight from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
“The Bundelkhand region is divided between U.P. and M.P. The region is totally distinct from the other parts of both States, and has faced economic and social backwardness for a long time. Various reports and indicators of development highlights the same. Our party’s primary goal is to make way for the State, which would combine seven districts of U.P. - Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Jhansi and Lalitpur, and eight districts of M.P. - Damoh, Panna, Chhatarpur, Datia, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Niwari and Ashoknagar,” he told The Hindu.
Mr. Singh, a 1980 batch Indian Police Service officer who hails from Bundelkhand’s Banda district, said the party will fight the 2024 Parliamentary and 2027 assembly elections in U.P. Mr. Singh added that only political pressure could help the region to come out of backwardness and neglect. “We will definitely fight the 2027 U.P. assembly election, and will try to put up candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha election as well,” he said.
