By Praveen Dwivedi

Bhopal, Mar 5 (IANS): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced the creation of a new Mauganj district out of the existing Rewa district.

With this, Madhya Pradesh now will have 53 districts by August 15.

Making Mauganj tehsil a new district has been several years-old demand, which the ruling BJP government announced just eight months before the state is set to witness a heated Assembly elections.

The new Mauganj district will be created with inclusion of four tehsils, including three existing tehsils -- Mauganj, Hanumana and Naigarhi, while Dev Talab will be a new tehsil.

The new district of east Madhya Pradesh will also include two full-fledged Assembly constituencies of existing Rewa district, including Mauganj and Dev Talab, with the latter being presently represented by senior BJP MP and present Assembly Speaker Girish Gautam.

Once Mauganj formally becomes a new district, it will be the new gateway of Madhya Pradesh to eastern Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur-Varanasi region, which houses Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and two other Lok Sabha seats of east Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing a public welfare programme in Mauganj in presence of Assembly Speaker Gautam, Chief Minister Chouhan said, "Four tehsils -- Mauganj, Hanumana, Naigarhi and Dev Talab -- will be merged to form a new Mauganj district. The process of making the district will start from today itself and the national flag will be hoisted at the new district's headquarters on August 15."

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also transferred Rs 605 crore into the bank accounts of 27,310 migrant workers' families, under the Mukhyamantri Jan-Kalyan (Sambal) Yojana 2.0. He also laid the foundation of and unveiled development works worth Rs 738.92 crore.

Besides these, the Chouhan also announced construction of townhall in Mauganj, development work in industrial area, degree college in Hanumana, construction of ghats, road construction and various works in tribal sub-plan.

Addressing the event, Assembly Speaker Gautam said "Today is a proud and historic day for Mauganj. Today, due to CM's efforts, the demand of many years is finally being fulfilled. It is a day of happiness, joy and celebration for us."

The creation of the 53rd district of Madhya Pradesh, out of the existing Rewa district, is yet another step in continued series of steps by the BJP government to usher development in the Vindhya region, where out of the total 30 seats, the BJP had won 24 seats (including all eight seats of Rewa district) in the 2018 state Assembly polls.

Recently, the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government had announced a series of incentives for the Kol tribe (dominant tribal group of Vindhya region). Prior to that the foundation of the long-awaited Rewa airport was laid, followed by the announcement of building Bhopal-Singrauli Vindhya Express highway.

Earlier, in December 2022, the longest tunnel of Madhya Pradesh, too was inaugurated in Sidhi district of Vindhya region only.