‘No Separate Kodagu State’, Stresses Union Government

Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi (SP)

New Delhi, Mar 16: The prolonged campaign a section of Kodavas have been steadfastly carrying on since the last some decades, demanding for carving out of a separate Kodagu state suffered a setback, after the union government on Tuesday March 15, dismissed the demand.

“At this juncture, there is no proposal before the central government for setting up of a state reorganization commission. None of the governments have put forward any demand for separate state,” said Gurudas Kamat, minister of state for home, in a statement made in the Lok Sabha. This statement has also come as a dampener to the spirits of a large number of politicians and leaders from Andhra Pradesh, who have been vociferously demanding for carving out of a separate Telangana state.

The minister said that from time to time, the union government had received demands for bifurcating Karnataka to set up separate Kodagu state, carve out Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh, Vidarbha from Maharashtra, and for putting together parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states to give birth to a separate state named Bundel Khand. “These demands have come from individuals and organizations, and not from the state governments,” he clarified. He also mentioned that there have been demands for setting up of Bhojpur state by pooling together certain districts of Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Saurashtra out of Gujarat, Koshalanchal in western Orissa, Gurkhaland  out of West Bengal, Mithilanchal by separating certain regions from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, as well as Poorvanchal, Harit Pradesh, Brij Pradesh and Avadh Pradesh out of Uttar Pradesh.

He said that the government takes into account everything into consideration before deciding upon the need for creating a new state.  He also added that the government will initiate such a step only if a need is felt for the same and only when if there is a consensus for such as step.