By IANS
Lucknow : Provoked by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism that Bundelkhand was being neglected, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has decided to visit this part of the state this month.
She will address a rally of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Jhansi Jan 29.
The chief minister has sent two cabinet colleagues from Bundelkhand to start preparations for the rally, which was not on her agenda earlier, according to informed sources.
Rahul Gandhi, MP from Amethi and son of Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi, had Thursday drawn considerable crowds in Bundelkhand region of southern Uttar Pradesh, which could become his launch pad to revive his party that has been out of power in the state for nearly two decades.
During his two-day visit to the half-a-dozen highly drought prone districts of the region, he told the crowds there was large-scale corruption in development schemes.
“The central government has been providing all the necessary funds, but implementation of schemes has to be done by the state machinery, where rampant corruption was frustrating our efforts.”
Rahul also said: “I wish the chief minister pays a visit to Bundelkhand so that she could understand and realise the plight of the common man here.”
During her visit, Mayawati is expected to reply to Gandhi’s charge as well.
Bundelkhand, meanwhile, is emerging as a prospective political battleground as there has been a suggestion to make it a separate state.
Advocating smaller states, Mayawati on Jan 15 had publicly called upon the central government to create a separate Bundelkhand.
In response, Gandhi told a rally in Jhansi Thursday: “We are all for a separate Bundelkhand. Now it is for the Uttar Pradesh government and the state legislature to pass a resolution in this regard.”
Besides Gandhi and Mayawati, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Rajnath Singh too has plans to focus on the region while Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is also planning rallies there.
Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), largely confined to western Uttar Pradesh, has also begun to show interest in Bundelkhand with its state unit president Munna Singh Chauhan paying a visit to Mahoba barely 24 hours after Gandhi’s visit.
The region is regarded as a BSP stronghold as it bagged 14 of the 21 seats at the May 2007 assembly election. The Congress won three seats, while four went to the Samajwadi Party.