New Delhi, July 28 - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi along with Uttar Pradesh party chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi and other party leaders Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to set up a separate development authority for the Bundelkhand region, which he alleged was reeling under poverty.

'Legislators and leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi met the prime minister. We have demanded a separate development authority for Bundelkhand region,' Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh told reporters after the meeting.

Singh said Rahul Gandhi also demanded that all the funds meant for Bundelkhand, which spans Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, be channelised through this development authority in order to eradicate poverty there. 'These steps are necessary to check the worsening situation in the region which is reeling under poverty, illiteracy and underdevelopment,' he said.

Gandhi had visited the region last year and described it as on the verge of collapse. Blaming the Mayawati government for the poverty and lack of development, the Congress leader said the local administration had failed to deliver, forcing people to migrate elsewhere.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Pradeep Jain and Congress leaders from both the states were part of the delegation.

However, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh described Rahul Gandhi's meeting with the prime minister as a 'political gimmick'.