A plan for UP’s division into three states is going viral. Is it real?
A post with the plan for division of Uttar Pradesh into three separate states namely Bundelkhand, Purvanchal and Uttar Pradesh, has been taking rounds on social media.
Claims: There are claims that this proposal is given by the central government for the division of the most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. The alleged plan mentions that the three newly formed states Bundelkhand, Purvanchal and Uttar Pradesh would have Prayagraj, Gorakhpur and Lucknow as their respective capitals. It goes on to claim that Delhi would be given full statehood. Some of the districts of Uttar Pradesh would be included into neighboring states like Haryana, Uttarakhand and Delhi, according to this plan.
The list initially went viral in 2019.
The caption with this list shared by a Facebook page – Bundelkhand State in Make read, “Bundelkhand belongs to the people of Bundelkhand. All social workers and intellectuals are requested to stand with Bundelkhand before it is too late. Bundelkhand’s capital should be in Bundelkhand. Let’s fight for the state and the people together.”
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The same post resurfaced on Twitter again and has been viral for the last few days.
Division of #UttarPradesh will be Suicidal for #BJP . #UPElection2022 pic.twitter.com/ith7rtP8iG
— Pradeep Rai (@pradeepraiindia) June 12, 2021
Truth
The official Fact Checking twitter account of the Government of UP tweeted busting the claim and calling it baseless. The official Twitter account of the UP government also retweeted the post.
#FakeAlert: उत्तर प्रदेश के बंटवारे की खबर सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफॉर्म पर वायरल है।#InfoUPFactCheck: उत्तर प्रदेश के विभाजन को लेकर जताई जा रही आशंका निराधार है।
सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफॉर्म पर भ्रामक खबरों का प्रसार करने वालों के खिलाफ उचित कार्रवाई की जाएगी। pic.twitter.com/in7Fyotj3L
— Info Uttar Pradesh Fact Check (@InfoUPFactCheck) June 12, 2021
The Press Information Bureau also tweeted stating that the claim is fake and the central government is not thinking about Uttar Pradesh’s division.
एक खबर में दावा किया गया है कि केंद्र सरकार उत्तर प्रदेश को 2-3 हिस्सों में विभाजित करने और पूर्वांचल को अलग राज्य बनाने पर विचार कर रही है।#PIBFactCheck: यह दावा #फ़र्ज़ी है। केंद्र सरकार, उत्तर प्रदेश के अलग हिस्से करने से संबंधित कोई विचार नहीं कर रही है। pic.twitter.com/tKnKKrHJRA
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) June 12, 2021
In September 2019, after the post went viral, BBC News Hindi spoke to Mrityunjay Kumar, information advisor to UP CM Adityanath Yogi. Kumar said that there was no plan to divide Uttar Pradesh and the UP Government had received no such proposal. He discredited the claims calling it fake, asking not to pay attention to it.
Back in 2011, the BSP government with Mayawati as the CM had proposed the division of Uttar Pradesh into four states. The four states were to be – Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh. But since then, there has been no news on UP’s division from any credible sources.
Other news websites like The Logical Indian and India TV News have also debunked this claim.
