No ‘common issues’ — Chhattisgarh doesn’t want to be in zonal council with Uttarakhand
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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wants his state out of the Central Zonal Council (CZC) as it does not have any territorial, geographical or social similarity with Uttarakhand, which is also part of the council.
Baghel said he made his views clear to Home Minister Amit Shah during the CZC meet at Raipur earlier this week, adding a comprehensive dialogue on development of the member states cannot take place with one of them having complete territorial and social differences.
The CZC has four member states — Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. When it was formed, Baghel said, the council only had Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as the two states were big in size and shared common regional identities.
“With time, however, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were carved out of these states. I told the council head and Union home minister that we have no direct contact or geographical and social affinity with Uttarakhand that could provide us reasons for talks over some common problems and issues,” Baghel said.
He added that he has asked the home minister to incorporate Chhattisgarh in a zonal council that has states with common problems, territorial and social affinities.
“Chhattisgarh is surrounded by seven states including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand. We must be kept with these states as we share common issues and problems with them,” Baghel said.