NEW DELHI: States are getting increasingly jittery over central ministers seeking part of the glory on their home turf, with Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh acting to restrain their footprints outside Delhi.
UP chief minister Mayawati has said "no" to elected representatives attending a review meeting on implementation of central relief package for Bundelkhand on Friday. In a similar move, Madhya Pradesh has issued an order that central ministers and VVIPs should take permission to attend meetings which relate to the state or its schemes.
While suprising, it marks an eagerness among non-Congress states to assert their intellectual property rights on schemes and assets in the face of attempts by UPA members to score a point.
National Rainfed Area Authority chief J S Samra and Planning Commission member-secretary Sudha Pillai will visit Jhansi on Friday to check the implementation of UP part of Rs 7,000 crore package spanning 13 districts of UP and MP.
UP's decision to restrict Friday's meeting to officials has surprised central monitors. While it is a state's prerogative to decide upon the invitees, plan panel sources said elected members, who are part of district planning committees, help in holistic approach to problems.
It is in stark contrast to the MP leg of the review in Sagar last month where officials and elected members were invited in two sessions.
At the same time, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan regime in MP has ordered that central representatives should take permission for functions relating to the state.
In a circular to DMs and department heads on April 24, it said central ministers and VVIPs were holding functions or meetings with district officials without the state's knowledge. "It has been decided that functions, which relate to the state or its schemes, should be held only after permission from state government," the circular said.
While Chouhan may be looking to check MP-based ministers like Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Arun Yadav and Kantilal Bhuria, Mayawati appears to be balancing her renewed focus on development with the political objective of not giving a foothold to Congress-led Centre in the war for credits.
Rahul Gandhi's emergence on `battlefield Bundelkhand' saw Congress cite the relief package as a sign of its commitment to the backward region. An invitation to MPs and MLAs for the review would have put Rahul's key aide from Bundelkhand, Pradeep Jain, MoS in union rural development ministry, and Samajwadi Party MPs like Ghanshyam Anuragi and R K Singh Patel in the spotlight.
But Mayawati's strategy will not end the tussle over Bundelkhand as Centre's imprimatur on the relief package is permanent, with Centre having monitoring rights. Sources said after the Jhansi meeting on Friday, the NRAA teams will visit every district to get a first-hand account on the package.
Rahul's tour to Bundelkhand, which sources said may happen later, may only stoke the tussle further.
Sorce:The Times of India
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