Ghaziabad/Noida, Nov 22 (IANS): Residents of western Uttar Pradesh have overwhelmingly supported Chief Minister Mayawati's move to break up Uttar Pradesh into four states.
Ghaziabad Bar Association president Rakesh Tyagi said lawyers had been fighting for long for an Allahabad High Court bench in the region.
"Now the chief minister has given us an entire (new) high court along with a new state," an elated Tyagi told IANS. "It is definitely a great gift to western Uttar Pradesh."
Social activist Rajendra Tyagi added that Mayawati had opened the doors for the development of the sprawling western Uttar Pradesh, which borders Delhi.
"Till now the entire record revenue from the region was being siphoned off to Lucknow and only a very small part was given to western Uttar Pradesh," he said.
Tyagi said Ghaziabad had been deprived of a Metro train project because of Lucknow's callous attitude.
Residents Welfare Associations Federation chairman Tejendra Pal Singh Tyagi said: "Mayawati's move is highly appreciable."
Ghaziabad Industries Federation chairman Hariom Chauhan said Mayawati should have broken up Uttar Pradesh into two or three but not four states.
"The central government has still not resolved the issues of Telangana and Vidharba," he said. "But for the development of western Uttar Pradesh, a new state is a must."
Noida Lok Manch president Mahesh Saxena called it a "bold step". "We fully support this move. But the chief minister should have passed the resolution in the assembly with support from all parties," Saxena told IANS.
Noida Residents Welfare Association Federation president N.P. Singh felt that a new state of Western Uttar Pradesh would become the most prosperous state in India, leaving behind even Gujarat and Punjab.
Vipin Malhan, president of the Noida Entrepreneurs Association (NEA), also gave his enthusiastic backing to the concept of smaller states.
"G.B. Nagar district alone generates Rs.10,400 crore revenue which is invested in Eastern Uttar Pradesh," he alleged. "If Western Uttar Pradesh becomes a state, the entire revenue will be invested here.
"Noida would be the best show window for India," Malhan added.