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Summary
Mayawati, state chief of India's northern Uttar Pradesh shot off a letter to prime minister, Manmohan Singh seeking to carve out a 'Poorvanchal' state, which would comprise the eastern parts of the state, said an official on Sunday.Mayawati's demand comes in the wake of her favouring the creation of 'Bundelkhand' and 'Paschimanchal' states out of Uttar Pradesh.The state chief (Mayawati) in her letter which she has written on December 13 has urged the federal government to give its nod for the creation of Poorvanchal keeping in consideration aspiration of the people living there. This will also help in the better administration of the region, said Vijay Shanker Pandey, Additional Cabinet Secretary, Uttar Pradesh.Chief Minister Mayawati had shot off a letter earlier on March 15, 2008 seeking Poorvanchal. Mayawati's demand comes after the federal government's nod to forming a separate state of Telangana from southern Andhra Pradesh.The Additional Cabinet Secretary said that Mayawati, in her letter, had pointed out that the Poorvanchal region, which is socially and economically backward, requires financial assistance.The state chief (Mayawati) through also letter also requests the prime minister (Manmohan Singh) to approve financial assistance of Rs. 80,000 crore (Rs. 80 billion), which she had sought earlier for the development of Poorvanchal, said Vijay Shanker Pandey, Additional Cabinet Secretary, Uttar Pradesh. Since attaining independence in 1947, India has had to balance the challenges of maintaining different peoples under one federal system as well as the relationship between central power in the capital Delhi, and the states of the world's largest democracy. The Gorkhas, ethnic Nepalese, and West Bengal called for an indefinite strike from Friday demanding their own Gorkhaland to protect their heritage. Other groups have also been pushing forward demands for a statehood demands.
