Formation of Madhya Pradesh 1956 and Chhattisgarh 2000

Madhya Pradesh is the clearest example in India of a state assembled out of pieces. On 1 November 1956 four separate units of the old map were joined into one, and on 1 November 2000 a part of it was separated again to make Chhattisgarh. MPPSC, MP Police, SSC and Railway papers ask the two dates, the four units, the first Chief Minister and the commission whose report made the first merger, so the chapter is short but has to be exact.

The four units before 1956

When the Constitution came into force in 1950, the region of the present state was administered as four units of three different classes:

The first of these carried the name Madhya Pradesh from 1950 but had its capital at Nagpur, a fact that catches candidates who assume Bhopal was always the capital. Madhya Bharat was the union of the princely states of the Gwalior and Indore region, Vindhya Pradesh the union of the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand states, and Bhopal the former Nawab's state administered as a Part C unit.

The reorganisation of 1956

The demand for linguistic states produced the Dhar Commission of 1948 and the JVP Committee of 1949, both cautious, and then the creation of Andhra in 1953 after the death of Potti Sriramulu. The government appointed the States Reorganisation Commission in 1953 under Fazl Ali, with K. M. Panikkar and H. N. Kunzru as members; its report of 1955 led to the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.

With effect from 1 November 1956 the Act formed a new Madhya Pradesh by merging Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, Bhopal and the Mahakoshal or Hindi-speaking districts of the old Madhya Pradesh. The Marathi-speaking region of Vidarbha and Berar, including Nagpur, was transferred to Bombay State, which is why the capital moved to Bhopal. Pandit Ravishankar Shukla, Chief Minister of the old Madhya Pradesh, became the first Chief Minister of the reorganised state, and Dr Pattabhi Sitaramayya its first Governor. After this merger Madhya Pradesh became the largest state of India by area, a position it held until 2000.

The separation of Chhattisgarh in 2000

The demand for a separate Chhattisgarh was old. Pandit Sundarlal Sharma is credited with raising it first in the early twentieth century, and Dr Khubchand Baghel carried it forward through the Chhattisgarh Mahasabha. Parliament passed the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, and on 1 November 2000 the sixteen districts of the Raipur, Bilaspur and Bastar divisions became Chhattisgarh, the twenty-sixth state of India, with Raipur as capital, the High Court at Bilaspur, Ajit Jogi as its first Chief Minister and Dinesh Nandan Sahay as its first Governor. The same procedure applied as for the other two states of that year: a Bill under Article 3 on the recommendation of the President, referred to the state legislature for its non-binding views, and passed by a simple majority because Article 4 keeps such a law outside Article 368.

Madhya Pradesh after 2000

• It is now the second largest state of India by area, after Rajasthan, which took the first place in 2000.
• The capital is Bhopal; the High Court sits at Jabalpur, with benches at Indore and Gwalior.
• It has 29 Lok Sabha and 11 Rajya Sabha seats, and a Vidhan Sabha of 230 elected seats; Chhattisgarh received 11 Lok Sabha seats, 5 Rajya Sabha seats and an assembly of 90 seats.
• It is landlocked and borders five states: Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of the state, and the Narmada, flowing west, is its main river.

How to revise this chapter

Hold four facts and the chapter is safe. First, 1 November 1956 for the formation and the four units that went into it. Second, Nagpur as the capital of the old Madhya Pradesh and Bhopal as the capital of the new one. Third, Fazl Ali, Panikkar and Kunzru for the States Reorganisation Commission of 1953. Fourth, 1 November 2000 for Chhattisgarh as the twenty-sixth state with Raipur as capital and Ajit Jogi as first Chief Minister. Add that Madhya Pradesh was the largest state by area until 2000 and the second largest after it, and every usual question is covered.