List of proposed states and territories of India

Proposed states of India

This is a list of proposed states and territories of India.

Bodoland

The agitation for the creation of a separate Bodoland state resulted in an agreement between the Indian Government, the Assam state government and the Bodo Liberation Tigers Force. Per that agreement of 10 February 2003, the Bodoland Territorial Council, an entity subordinate to the government of Assam, was created to govern four districts covering 3082 Bodo-majority villages in Assam. Elections to the council were held on 13 May 2003, and Hagrama Mahillary was sworn in as chief of the 46-member council on 4 June 2003.

Dimaraji

The Dimasa people of northeast India have been demanding a separate state called "Dimaraji"or "Dimaland" for several decades. It would comprise the Assamese districts of Dima Hasao and Cachar, parts of Nagaon and Karbi Anglong together with part of Dimapur in Nagaland.

Delhi

Delhi is a Union Territory with its own legislature and chief ministers, but is not yet a full state. The previous National Democratic Alliance government introduced a bill in parliament to grant full statehood to Delhi, but the legislation has not yet been passed.

Gorkhaland

Map of the proposed state of Gorkhaland

Main article: Gorkhaland

A violent struggle for a state of Gorkhaland by the Gorkha National Liberation Front in the 1980s resulted in the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988. However, the aspirations of the people of Darjeeling and the surrounding areas were not fulfilled and the demand for full statehood emerged once again in 2007 with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha as its chief proponent. After the West Bengal state assembly election, 2011, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has signed an agreement with the state government to establish a Gorkhaland Territorial Administration to replace the DGHC.

Harit Pradesh

Proposed states in Uttar Pradesh

There is a demand to create a state of called Harit Pradesh out of Western Uttar Pradesh, including 22 districts in six divisions – Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Meerut, Moradabad, and Saharanpur. The main reason for the demand for Harit Pradesh is the perceived cultural and economical differences between eastern and western Uttar Pradesh, in that the western part resembles Haryana and Rajasthan more than it does eastern Uttar Pradesh.

The most prominent advocate for the creation of the new state is Ajit Singh, the leader of the Rashtriya Lok Dal party. Mayawati also supported the formation of Harit Pradesh in December 2009.

Kongu Nadu

Kongu Nadu (Tamil: கொங்குநாடு) is a region of Tamil Nadu, southwest of the Tondai Nadu region, northwest of the Chola Nadu region, southeast of the state of Karnataka and east of the state of Kerala. Proposals for a separate state have come from the Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KMK) political party, based on the claim that the region accounts for about 40% of Tamil Nadu's revenue but receives comparatively little state investment. The proposed state would comprise ten districts of Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Karur, Namakkal, Erode, Tirupur, Salem, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Dindigul.

Kosal

Main article: Kosal state movement

The Kosal region is located in Orissa state, between 19° 37’- 23° N latitude and 82° 28’- 85° 22’ E longitudes comprising the districts of Sundargad, Jharsuguda, Debgad, Samalpur, Bargad, Sonepur, Baud, Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Aathmallik sub-division of Angul district. and Kashipur block of Rayagad district. It is surrounded by Jharkhand state on the north, on the east by the dist of Kendujhar, Angul and Kandhamal; on the south by Rayagada, Koraput and on the west by Chhattisgarh state. This geographical area comes under the Western Odisha Development Council.

Mithila

The Maithili speaking region

Mithila (Devnagri: मिथिला, mithilā Tirhuta: মিথিলা) is proposed to cover the Maithili speaking regions of Bihar and Jharkhand. There are twenty-four Maithili-speaking districts in Bihar: Araria, Banka, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Jamui, Katihar, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Lakhisarai, Madhepura, Madhubani, Monghyr, Muzaffarpur, Purnea, Saharasa, Samastipur, Sheikhpura, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Supaul, Vaishali, and West Champaran. There are six Maithili-speaking districts in Jharkhand: Deoghar, Dumka, godda, Jamtara, Pakaur, and Sahebganj.

Purvanchal

Purvanchal is a geographic region of north-central India, which comprises the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh state. It is bounded by Nepal to the north, Bihar state to the east, Bagelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state to the south, the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh to the west. Purvanchal comprises three divisions – Awadhi region in the west, Bhojpuri region in the east and the Baghelkhand region in the south.

The most commonly spoken language in Purvanchal is Bhojpuri.

Purvanchal area is represented by 23 Members of Parliament to the lower house of Indian Parliament, and 117 legislators in the 403 member Uttar Pradesh state assembly or Vidhan Sabha. Districts-Azamgarh, Ballia, Chandauli, Deoria, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Mau, Mirzapur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Siddharth Nagar, Varanasi.

As a fallout of Telangana creation movement, Mayawati proposed 13 Dec 2009 to carve Purvanchal. out of Uttar Pradesh. Current movement for Purvanchal is spearheaded by famous politician Amar Singh.

Telangana

Telangana region marked in white within the state of Andhra Pradesh

Main article: Telangana movement

Telangana comprises the northern, non-coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, and includes the state capital, Hyderabad. The separate Telangana state movement started in 1950s when people unhappy with the merger with Andhra State expressed their discontent. In 1969, there was a full blown revolution by the students of Hyderabad and 369 students were killed in police shootings. The demand has since been growing in people's hearts and became the tide-turner in all general elections from the year 2000. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is a political party formed on the single-point-agenda of formation of Telangana State. TRS in 2004, contested parliamentary elections in alliance with the Congress party and won 5 of 16 seats in the region. This rendered it a member of the coalition ruling India, and a carefully worded sentence about considering the demand for the creation of a new state "at an appropriate time" was duly included in the Common Minimum Programme. TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao sat for a fast-unto-death on 30 Nov 2009 demanding formation of the state. On 9 Dec 2009, Home Minister P. Chidambaram announced an "resolution" for a new Telangana state formation.

Tulu Nadu

Tulu Nadu in relation to Karnataka and Kerala

Main article: Mangalorean regionalism

Tulu Nadu is a region on the border between the states of Karnataka and Kerala in southern India. The demand for a separate state is based on a distinct culture and language (Tulu, which does not have official status), and neglect of the region by the two state governments. To counter these demands and accusations, the Karnataka and Kerala state governments have created the Tulu Sahitya Academy to preserve and promote Tuluva culture. The proposed state would comprise three existing districts; Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in Karnataka, and Kasaragod in Kerala.

Vidarbha

Vidarbha region is composed of Amarvati and Nagpur divisions

Vidarbha comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions in eastern Maharashtra. The State Reorganization Act of 1956 placed Vidarbha in Bombay state. Shortly after this, the state reorganisation commission recommended the creation of "Vidarbha state" with Nagpur as the capital, but instead it was included in Maharashtra state, which was formed on 1 May 1960.

Support for a separate state of Vidarbha had been expressed by Loknayak Bapuji Aney and Brijlal Biyani Vidarbha. The demand for the creation of a separate state are based on allegations of neglect by the Maharashtra state government. Jambuwantrao Dhote led a popular struggle for Vidarbha statehood in the 1970s. Two politicians, N.K.P. Salve and Vasant Sathe, have led 21st century attempts to bring about a state of Vidarbha.

Vindhya Pradesh

The former state of Vindhya Pradesh

Vindhya Pradesh (Hindi: विंध्य प्रदेश) was a former state in central India, named after the Vindhya Range. The state covered an area of 61,130 km² (23,600 sq mi) and was created in 1948 by the merger of 34 princely states in the eastern part of the former Central India Agency. It was merged into Madhya Pradesh in 1956, following the States Reorganization Act. In 2000, Sriniwas Tiwari, ex-speaker of the Madhya Pradesh assembly, called for nine districts to be separated from Madhya Pradesh to create a new state of Vindhya Pradesh, although this was rejected by the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Others

• Andaman & Nicobar Islands
• Awadh state consisting of Awadhi speaking districts of central Uttar Pradesh. The population of proposed state would be approximately 5 crores (50 million people) with an area of approximately 75,000 km² and capital at Lucknow.
• Braj Pradesh consisting of Agra division and Aligarh division from Uttar Pradesh and districts of Bharatpur and Gwalior from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The proposed capital would be in Agra. So far, Braj has remained as a historical and cultural region, rather than a political entity. Language of Braj is Braj Bhasha.
• Garoland, Meghalaya: People from Garo regions of Meghalaya are demanding for a new state Garoland.
• Gondwana, which would include portions of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.^{[citation needed]}
• Kamtapur in northern parts of West Bengal. The proposed state consists of the districts of Koch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and southern plains of Darjeeling including Siliguri city.
• Karaikal district (Tamil: காரைக்கால் மாவட்டம்) is one of the four districts of the Puducherry Union Territory, lying 150 km (93 mi) south of the Pondicherry district. There is a movement to transform Karaikal district into a separate union territory because of a perceived lack of development compared to the rest of Puducherry.
• Ladakh, comprising a sizeable chunk of eastern Jammu and Kashmir, has asked for Union Territory status as part of a desire to protect its Buddhist culture from the influence of the mainly Muslim Kashmir Valley.
• Saurashtra, Gujarat: Demands for statehood have died down for a few years and the situation is peaceful as of now.
• Seema-Andhra, the combined region of Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra

See also

• Autonomous regions of India
• Separatist movements of India

External links

• "India Redrawn". Outlook India. 6 February 2012.