Reorganisation of States Part 1

Reorganisation of States

Part 1

  • Provincial Congress Committees of INC were restructured and expanded on linguistic basis following the INC’s Nagpur Session in 1920.
  • This can be considered as the origin point for the demand for Linguistic division of states.

Post-Independence Period (1947-1950)

  • The time between 1947 and 1950 was fraught with power struggles between the independent princely states and the Indian union.
  • The princes wanted to hold on to as much powers as possible and get as many concessions as possible from the Union.
  • The union government wanted to unify the nation while reducing inequalities and privileges to the few.
  • The Princely states were integrated into the nation by 1950 and the new constitution was also enacted.

The states in the infant nation were divided into 4 categories.

  1. Part A states
  2. Part B states
  3. Part C States
  4. Part D states

Part A states

  • These were the former governors’ provinces of British India.
  • They were to be governed by an elected governor and state legislature.
  • Part A states were Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Madras, Madhya Pradesh (earlier Central Provinces and Berar), Orissa, Punjab (earlier East Punjab), Uttar Pradesh (earlier the United Provinces), and West Bengal.

Part B States

  • These states were the former princely states or groups of princely states
  • These states were to be governed by a Rajpramukh.
  • Rajpramukh usually was the ruler of a constituent state and an elected legislature who would be appointed by the President of India.
  • Part B states were Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), Rajasthan, Saurashtra, and Travancore-Cochin.

Part C States

  • They were created from both the former chief commissioners’ provinces and some princely states,
  • These states were to be governed by a chief commissioner
  • The chief commissioner’s appointment was done by the President of India.
  • Part C states were Ajmer, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Coorg, Cutch, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, and Vindhya Pradesh.

Part D States

  • This state was administered a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government.
  • Part D category was created solely for Andaman and Nicobar Islands.