Aspirant states of India

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Demands for the creation of new states have been a chronic feature of the Indian polity since the inception of the republic. Such agitations typically base themselves on claims of neglect or discrimination meted out to them by the central or relevant state governments. Some such ongoing agitations are chronicled here.

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[edit] 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 Bodoland Liberation Tigers. Per that agreement of February 10, 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. [1] The text of the agreement can be found here. Elections to the council were held on May 13, 2003, and Hagrama Mahillary was sworn in as chief of the 46-member council on June 4, 2003. [2]

[edit] Delhi and Pondicherry

Both Delhi and Pondicherry are Union Territories with their own legislatures and chief ministers, but they are not yet full states. A plea for full statehood has been passed by the legislative assembly of Pondicherry.[3] The National Democratic Alliance government have introduced a bill in parliament to grant full statehood to Delhi, but the legislation has yet to be passed.[4]

[edit] Gorkhaland

Gorkhaland enjoys a measure of autonomy under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. It has been headed by Subhash Ghising since 1988. However, demands for full statehood have emerged once again, with the Gorkha National Liberation Front as its chief proponent.[5]

[edit] Kodagu

The demand for creation of a separate Kodava state is based on the region having a distinct culture, rather than on allegations of discrimination and neglect. The demand, which has intermittently been raised since the 1950s[6], has never gained much popularity[7], one reason being the relative prosperity that the district enjoys.

[edit] 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.

Purvanchal area is represented by 23 Members of Parliament to the lower house of Indian Parliament, and 117 legislators in the 403 member Uttar Pardesh state assebly or Vidhan Sabha.[8]

[edit] Telangana

Telangana comprises the northern, non-coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, and includes the state capital, Hyderabad. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is currently the chief proponent of this demand, alleges discrimination of the area by the state government. In 2004, the TRS contested parliamentary elections in alliance with the Congress party (which does not support the demand) 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.[9] However, no progress towards meeting the goal of state-creation has been made since then.

[edit] Vidarbha

Vidarbha comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions in eastern Maharashtra. The demand for the creation of a separate Vidarbha state is based on allegations of neglect by the Maharashtra state government. Two politicians, N.K.P. Salve and Vasant Sathe, have been leading recent attempts to bring in legislation creating a Vidarbha state[1]. The demand has not succeeded in gaining much popularity [2].

[edit] Central Travancore

The Central Travancore consists of the South-Central districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, and parts of Idukki and Kollam.

[edit] And also

  • Bhojpuri speaking state comprising Eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar.(Bhojpuri is a major language in India with over 150 million speakers and has a flourishing entertainment industry)[citation needed]
  • Mithilanchal or a Maithili speaking state (Mailthili is an Indo-Aryan language with 45 million speakers. It has its own traditional script)
  • Angika speaking state (Angika has 30 million speakers)[citation needed]
  • Bhilkhand, from parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra.[10]
  • Ichikanchal from Bihar.[10]
  • Bundelkhand, which encompasses parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The people of this region speak a language called Bundelkhandi[3]
  • Gondwana, which would include portions of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
  • Kamtapur in northern parts of West Bengal. The proposed state consists of the districts of Koch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and southern plains of Dargeeling including Siliguri city.
  • Harit Pradesh in Uttar Pradesh.[11]
  • Karbi Anglong in Assam.

[edit] See also

[edit] References