NEW DELHI: The idea of dividing UP into smaller states has gained currency following the reports of several heinous crimes from the state in recent times. According to top sources in BJP and the government, the idea of opening a debate on whether or not a large state like Uttar Pradesh should continue as a single administrative unit has gained ground with senior BJP leaders talking about the prospect."The division as envisaged by Mayawati and the 2011 resolution of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly is a departure point, but not the main issue. The idea is for a special area status for Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal, two very backward areas of the state," said a top BJP leader."Senior partymen have discussed the idea with high level ministers in the government, but there are issues which are open for debate," added the source. For long BJP has been an advocate of smaller states, it was the Vajpayee-led NDA government which carved out Uttarakhand from UP, Jharkhand from Bihar and Chhattisgarh from Madhya Pradesh.The party had also supported the demand for a separate state of Telangana. Ideologically, the matter would suit the BJP, but the complexity of the UP’s demographic break up and uneven economic needs is queering the pitch."The division envisaged by the UP Assembly resolution is actually not viable. The biggest problem would not be the communally polarised area of Harit Pradesh, although that is a big concern, but the economic backwardness of Poorvanchal and Bundelkhand. Western UP got the benefit of the irrigation schemes of the past and industrial development, we cannot starve the rest of the state by separating them," said a senior minister in the government. "As far as the party is concerned, the political benefits of Poorvanchal and Bundelkhand are immense, while Awadh and Western UP will become no-go areas," said a source. He confirmed that a Bill on the issue was on the government’s "to do" list.A senior BJP leader said that while the party believed that the state should be divided, it is a conundrum. "The state as it exists today is administratively unwieldy, but the situation is complicated," he added. "For example, in the case of Awadh, some people say that it should extend to Rampur, Balrampur, even Bahraich which others count as Poorvanchal," he added."The failure of the Akhilesh government has given an impetus to this issue which had more or less died out in the UPA government. While then Union minister Jairam Ramesh had said that he was in favour of smaller states in place of UP, the UPA government could never have mustered the numbers or will. A Bill on this is being mulled. Lets see," said a senior minister.