The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has started looking into the feasibility of carving a new district out of Aligarh and Bulandshahr districts following a request from former chief minister Kalyan Singh’s son, Rajveer Singh.
Officials said that directions in this regard were given to the District Magistrates of Aligarh and Bulandshahr to conduct a survey and submit their report to the State Revenue Department about the feasibility of creating a new district.
Recently, BJP leader and former Etah MP Rajveer Singh demanded that a new district be carved out by including the Atrauli area of Aligarh, the birthplace of Kalyan Singh.
It is to be noted that when Kalyan Singh was the chief minister of UP – from 1991 to 1992 and from 1997 to 1999 – a similar proposal was floated, but it failed to materialise.
Now, as the demand has been revived by his son, who has also demanded that the new district be named “Kalyan Singh Nagar”, officials in the two concerned districts are looking into the possibility of the same.
“There was demand for a new district. We have been asked by the Revenue Board to evaluate the demand based on the criteria set for the formation of the new district. It is a very preliminary exercise,” Aligarh District Magistrate Sanjeev Ranjan told The Indian Express.
According to Ranjan, the survey will be looking into forming the new districts from three blocks – two in Aligarh, Atrauli and Gangiri; and Dibai in Bulandshahr.
“Both Aligarh and Bulandshahr districts have been asked to evaluate the same. We will submit our reports looking into the demand based on the set guidelines,” Ranjan added.
A senior officer in the Revenue Department said, “At present, it is part of a regular exercise. A query had come, and it was forwarded to the districts to look into the same. It is at a very preliminary stage.”
However, with the Assembly elections due in 2027, the move to launch a survey on the feasibility of creating a new district is being seen from a political perspective as well.
Kalyan Singh, the most prominent pro-Hindutva OBC face in the BJP, with acceptance across the state, belonged to the Lodh community, which is spread out across UP, with considerable strength in close to 70 Assembly seats of western UP and Bundelkhand regions. He represented the Atrauli Assembly seat 10 times.
His grandson, Sandeep Singh, is at present a minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led government in the state.
“A long time ago, a demand was raised to form a new district that would include Atrauli. Even a signature campaign was launched then. I do not know what happened to that proposal. If the new district is formed, the place will get new funds, new officers. It will benefit people, and I would like to thank Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath if the process for the same has started as per reports,” Rajveer Singh told mediapersons in Aligarh.
He said that the decision to look into the demand should not be seen as a political move. “It is purely to benefit the locals, as Atrauli falls on the border of three districts – Aligarh, Bulandshahr, and Kasganj. Therefore, the formation of the new district will make life and official work easier for the locals,” he added.