New Delhi, Dec 11 : Taking a cue from the government's decision to start the process for formation of Telangana state, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh and

expelled Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jawant Singh raised demands for Harit Pradesh and Gorkhaland respectively.

Ajit Singh said here that his party would start an agitation if the government does not consider the demand for Harit Pradesh, a proposed state comprising parts of western Uttar Pradesh.

He said the government should not respond to demands only if people resort to violence. Ajit Singh, MP from Baghpat, said his party was giving government some time to consider demand of Harit Pradesh.

"If the government does not consider demand for Harit Pradesh, we will start an agitation," he said.

Jaswant Singh also raised the demand for Gorkhaland.

He told reporters outside parliament that the demand for separate state of Gorkhaland was not new. Jaswant Singh was elected as BJP MP from Darjeeling in 2009 following the BJP's support for Gorkhaland.

The clamour for smaller states has also touched Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad, who had opposed creation of Jharkhand from undivided Bihar.

Lalu Prasad said here that his party supported demand for creating new states of Purvanchal and Bundelkhand.

The BJP, which among the national parties is the strongest votary of smaller states, criticised the Congress-led central government over the way it had initiated the process of formation of Telangana.

"It was done without proper homework and without a clear roadmap," senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said. (IANS)