The enemy within

The passage of two Bills for the creation of the new states of Chhatisgarh and Uttaranchal is a revealing study in contrast. Unlike the Chhatisgarh Statehood Bill which was passed without any hiccups, the Uttaranchal Bill generated a five-hour acrimonious debate. What is remarkable is that those spearheading the protests were friends, instead of foes, of the central government. Leave aside the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party, and the CPM which have reservations about the move, it was the Akali Dal, a constituent of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, which was in the forefront of dissent, demanding the exclusion of Udhamsingh Nagar from the new state. The disagreement over the differences on the subject reached such a crescendo that Union Home Minister L K Advani had to promise that he would consider the demand for the inclusion of some sugarcane growing areas around Udhamsingh Nagar in the proposed state. This afterthought has not pacified the Akali Dal which has summoned an emergency meetingof its political affairs committee on Sunday to discuss its future course of action.

The phenomenon of allies proving more irksome than enemies was repeated during the debate on the Jharkhand Bill on Wednesday. The Biju Janata Dal BJD is peeved over the inclusion of Seraikella and Kharasuan, ex-princely states, in the proposed state of Jharkhand. In any case, some political groups in Orissa had never reconciled themselves to the inclusion of these areas in Bihar following the reorganisation of states. Ironically, for the Central government keen on creating smaller states, it is some of those on the opposition benches who are more favourable on the subject compared to the allies. Indeed, the smooth passage of the Chhatisgarh Bill is due to the unstinted support provided by the Congress. After all, the resolution for the creation of Chhatisgarh was first adopted by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in 1994 when the Congress was in power in the state. Today also the Bill has the active support of the Congress. Indeed, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly had even gone a step further. It had also cleared theproposal for a separate Vindhya Pradesh, to which the Centre needs to respond. Advani has merely promised to consider an amendment on the subject in the future.

Politics aside, the idea of smaller states in a populous and developing country like India should be welcomed for efficient governance as well as fairer representation. Notwithstanding the creation of the seven sisters of the Northeast, it is with the passage of these Bills that for the first time Parliament is responding to the popular demands of the mainly marginalised groups. In two of the three cases 8212; the 16 districts of Chhatisgarh with its 1.76 crore population, and the 18 districts of Jharkhand with almost double that number 8212; the population consists mainly of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. But the creation of smaller states is only half the task. For a government enthusiastic about creating smaller states, it is important to remember that it needs to prove that small is, indeed, beautiful.