Proposed States and Territories of India

In addition to the existing twenty nine states and seven union territories^[1] this page names some of the proposed states and territories of India. The creation of new states and territories is a power reserved solely for the The President of India. He/She can do so by announcing new states, separating territory from an existing state or by merging two or more states or parts thereof.^[2]

History

Before independence, India was divided into British-administered provinces and nominally autonomous princely states, which were governed by British administration. After the partition of India, some of these administrative divisions became part of the Dominion of Pakistan, whilst the remaining states and provinces formed the Dominion of India. The colonial system of administration continued until 1956 when the States Reorganisation Act abolished the provinces and princely states in favour of new states which were based on language and ethnicity.

Several new states and union territories have been created out of existing states since 1956. The Bombay Reorganisation Act split Bombay State into the linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960.^[3] Nagaland was created on 1 December 1963.^[4] The Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 created a new Hindi-speaking state of Haryana from the southern districts of Punjab state,^[5] transferred the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh, and designated a union territory around Chandigarh, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana.^[6]

Statehood was conferred upon Himachal Pradesh on 25 January 1971,^[7] Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura.^[8] The Kingdom of Sikkim joined the Indian Union as a state on 26 April 1975.^[9] In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram became states on 20 February, followed by Goa on 30 May, while Goa's northern exclaves of Daman and Diu became a separate union territory.^[10]

Three new states were created in November 2000: Chhattisgarh (1 November) was created out of eastern Madhya Pradesh;^[11] Uttaranchal (9 November), which was renamed Uttarakhand in 2007,^[12] was created out of the mountainous districts of northwest Uttar Pradesh;^[13] and Jharkhand (15 November) was created out of the southern districts of Bihar.^[14] On 2 June 2014, Telangana was separated from Andhra Pradesh as a new state.^[15]

Assam

Karbi Anglong

Karbi Anglong is one of the two districts of Assam. Karbi Anglong was previously known as Mikir Hills. It was part of the Excluded Areas and Partially Excluded Areas (the present North East India) during British India. The British India government had never included this area under their government jurisdiction. Thereby no government development work or activity were done, nor any tax levied from the hills, including Karbi Anglong (then Mikir Hills). The first memorandum for a Karbi homeland was presented to Governor Reid on 28 October 1940 by Semsonsing Ingti and Khorsing Terang at Mohongdijua,^[16] Mikir Hills (now Karbi Anglong). Then the Karbi leaders were part of the All Party Hill Leaders' Conference (APHLC) formed on 6 July 1960.^[17] The movement again gained momentum when the Karbi Anglong District Council passed a resolution demanding a Separate State in 1981. Then again from 1986 through the leadership of Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) demanded Autonomous statehood of Karbi Anglong & Dima Hasao under Article 244(A). In 2002, the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council again passed another resolution to press for statehood. Besides there were several Memoranda submitted at different times by several organisations. The demand for Separate State of Karbi Anglong took a violent turn on 31 July 2013 where student demonstrators burst out in anger burning almost every government building. Following which, the elected political leaders of Karbi Anglong jointly submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India demanding a separate State. The Prime Minister had given them his assurance to discuss the matter.

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.^[18][19] 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.^[20]

Bihar

Mithila

Mithila (Devnagri: मिथिला, mithilā Tirhuta: মিথিলা) is proposed to cover the Maithili speaking regions of Bihar and Jharkhand. There are 24 Maithili-speaking districts in Bihar: Araria, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, (Banka), Darbhanga, East Champaran Katihar, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Madhepura, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Purnea, Saharasa, Samastipur, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Supaul, Vaishali, and West Champaran, Munger, Jamui. There are six Maithili-speaking districts in Jharkhand: Deoghar, Dumka, godda, Jamtara, Pakaur, and Sahebganj. There is no consensus on a proposed capital, Muzaffarpur, Barauni and Darbhnaga have been suggested by different persons and groups.

Bhojpur

There have been demands for a Bhojpur state, made up of Bhojpuri speaking districts of western Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and northern Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.^[21][22][23]

Gujarat

Kutch, Saurashtra and Bhilistan

Kutch Region or Cutch State and Saurashtra Region are aspirant states both as separate or combined Saurashtra was formed by union of different princely states and Kutch was a separate princely state which became border state after independence of India. Saurashtra and Kutch were Part-B and Part-C states of India respectively. Both were separate states till 1956 and later merged with Bombay state following the States Reorganisation Act.^[24] They became part of Gujarat state after bifurcation of Bombay state on 1 May 1960 following Mahagujarat Movement. Some people demand return of statehood to Saurashtra and Kutch citing slow development of the regions.^[25] Apart from these two separate state-hood demands there is as demand for separate Bhilistan state.^[26] Sourashtra State and Kutch State separately existed from 1947 to 1956.^{[26][27][28][29]}

Movement for separate Saurashtra state was initiated in 1972 by advocate Ratilal Tanna, who was close aide of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. As per Saurashtra Sankalan Samiti, more than 300 organisations across the Saurashtra region support the demand of the separate State. Samiti also claims that compared to other parts of Gujarat, Saurashtra is underdeveloped. Big industrial projects are coming near Ahmedabad and Vadodara, while Saurashtra is being ignored. It is claimed that, People of Saurashtra are facing shortage of drinking water and even youths are forced to migrate in search of jobs. No development is made along the coastline and if Saurashtra had its own state government the region would have done much better.^[26][28][30] Sourashtra has separate identity from rest of Gujarat and has its own Sourashtra language dialect. Sourashtra people have their own diaspora all over world including that in Tamil Nadu for centuries.^[31]

At the time of integration of the princely state of Kutch with India in 1947, the accession was done on the condition that Kutch would retain the status of a separate state. It enjoyed this status till 1960, when a separate state of Gujarat was carved out of Maharashtra and Kutch was merged with it. The main reason behind a separate state is cultural and geographical distance from Gandhinagar. The latter, according to KRSS, is also a hindrance to the development of the region. Kutch is still governed by an administration in Gandhinagar, which sits 400 km away. In 1960, Kutch was promised an autonomous development board under Article 371(2) of the Constitution, which never came into existence due to lack of political will. Narmada water does not reach the farms of this region, which is basically a desert land.^[32]

Karnataka

Karu Nadu

Karu Nadu, locally known as North Karnataka, is a geographical region consisting of mostly semi-arid plateau from 300 to 730 metres (980 to 2,400 ft) elevation that constitutes the northern part of the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is drained by the Krishna River and its tributaries the Bhima, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, and Tungabhadra. Karu Nadu lies within the Deccan thorn scrub forests ecoregion, which extends north into eastern Maharashtra.

It includes the districts of Belgaum, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Bidar, Bellary, Gulbarga, Yadagiri, Raichur, Gadag, Dharwad, Haveri and Koppal district Major cities in the region are Belgaum, Hubli, Dharwad, Bellary, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Bidar, Ranebennur, Chikodi, Hospet and Gokak.

Kalyana Karnataka

Kalyana Karnataka is a Kannada speaking region of Hyderabad State ruled by the Nizams of Hyderabad until 1948 and after merging with India union, the region was the part of Hyderabad State until 1956. The Hyderabad-Karanataka region comprises Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal Bellary and Gulbarga is in the present state of Karnataka, The Kalyana Karnataka region is the second largest arid region in India. ^{[33][34][35][36]}

Kalyana Karnataka was a term coined by noted Kannada activist Dr. Chidananda Murthy.^[37][38] Kalyana Karnataka is also called as Gulbarga division. As recent as October 2014 there are demands from organisations fighting for cause of this region such as Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha^[39] and Hyderabad-Karnataka Abhivradhi Horata Samithi.^[40][41]

Tulu Nadu

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.^[42][43] To counter these demands and accusations, the Karnataka and Kerala state governments have created the Tulu Sahitya Academy to preserve and promote Tuluva culture.^[44] The proposed state would comprise three existing districts; Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in Karnataka, and Kasaragod in Kerala.^[45][46]

Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu

Although Jammu is part of the disputed Kashmir region, it is not geographically part of the Kashmir valley nor the Ladakh region. The Jammu Division is inhabited by the native Dogra people who are historically, culturally, linguistically, and geographically connected with the historical Jammu of the Punjab region and the Pahari regions of the former Punjab Hills States that know comprise the state of Himachal Pradesh.^[47][48][49] Most of Jammu and Kashmir's Hindus live in the Jammu region and are closely related to the Punjabi-speaking peoples in the Punjab state; many speak Dogri,^[47] earlier considered a dialect of Punjabi and now is one of the official languages of India.

Kashmir

The proposed Kashmir state comprises the Kashmir valley region in Jammu & Kashmir. Ethnic Kashmiri leaders have called for the trifurcation of the Jammu and Kashmir state citing it as the only solution to fix the Kashmir conflict in India. Kashmiri writer and opinion leader Ghulam Nabi Khayal has given his support for an independent Union Territory of Ladakh and for the Jammu region to be merged into Punjab or given a separate statehood.^[50]

Ladakh

Ladakh, comprising a sizeable chunk of eastern Jammu and Kashmir, has asked for Union Territory status as part of a desire to protect its culture. People mainly speak Ladakhi. The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council(LAHDC), was originally created in 1993 to serve the Ladakhi people's demand for seperation from Jammu and Kashmir by becoming a Union Territory. In early October 2015, the Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh election included a promise for Union Territory status.^[51] The BJP went on to get 18 out of the 24 seats it contested, a clear majority.^[52]

Madhya Pradesh

Vindhya Pradesh, Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand

Vindhya Pradesh is a former state of India. It occupied an area of 23,603 sq. miles.^[53] It was created in 1948, shortly after Indian independence, from the territories of the princely states in the eastern portion of the former Central India Agency. It was named for the Vindhya Range, which runs through the center of the province. The capital of the state was Rewa. It lay between Uttar Pradesh to the north and Madhya Pradesh to the south, and the enclave of Datia, which lay a short distance to the west, was surrounded by the state of Madhya Bharat.

Vindhya Pradesh was merged into Madhya Pradesh in 1956, following the States Reorganisation Act.^[24] 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.^[54] Separate Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand states instead of single Vindhya Pradesh is as well advocated to accommodate districts claimed by Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand from neighboring Uttar Pradesh state.^[55][56]

Mahakoshal and Gondwana

Mahakoshal is a region which lies in the upper or eastern reaches of the Narmada River valley in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Cities and districts of the region include Jabalpur, Katni, Narsinghpur, Mandla, Dindori, Satna, Seoni and Chhindwara. The largest city and a possible capital is Jabalpur. Organisations such as Mahakaushal Mukti Morcha and Bharatiya Janashakti have demanded separate statehood.^[57][58]

It is alleged that though the Mahakoshal region is rich in minerals, forests, water and land resources, related industries were set up in nearby states.^[58] Also, the region has a distinct cultural identity owing to Jabalpur city, known as the Sanskardhani (Cultural Capital) of the State, one of the oldest towns of Central India. Culturally and socially, the Mahakoshal region differs greatly from the neighbouring Vindhya Pradesh. One of the key reasons for this is said to be that large parts of Mahakoshal were under direct British rule from the nineteenth century onwards, turning it into a relatively progressive, modern and liberal area and infusing democratic values into its body politic. Casteism and feudalism are said to be not as deeply rooted in this region as they are Vindhya Pradesh.^[59]

A parallel demand for a state of Gondwana from the same Mahakoshal region of Madhya Pradesh has arisen owing to the fact that vast areas of Mahakoshal were ruled by Gond kings and even today, Mandla, Chinndwara, Dindori, Seoni and Balaghat have a predominantly Gond tribal population. Tribals constitute 64 per cent of the total population of Dindori district. For Mandla, the corresponding figure is 57 per cent. The Gondwana Gantantra party (GGP) was established in 1991, with the objective to struggle for the creation of a separate Gondwana State comprising regions that were ruled by Gonds. The Gondwana Gantantra party (GGP) has since divided into numerous factions such as Rashtriya Gondwana party and Gondwana Mukti Dal.^[59]

Malwa

There are sporadic demands for a separate Malwa state with the probable capital at Indore. The region includes the Madhya Pradesh districts of Agar, Dewas, Dhar, Indore, Jhabua, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Rajgarh, Ratlam, Shajapur, Ujjain, and parts of Guna district and Sehore, and the Rajasthan districts of Jhalawar and parts of Banswara and Pratapgarh.

The main language of Malwa is Malvi, although Hindi is widely spoken in the cities. This Indo-European language is subclassified as Indo-Aryan. The language is sometimes referred to as Malavi or Ujjaini. Malvi is part of the Rajasthani branch of languages; Nimadi is spoken in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh and in Rajasthan. The dialects of Malvi are, in alphabetical order, Bachadi, Bhoyari, Dholewari, Hoshangabadi, Jamral, Katiyai, Malvi Proper, Patvi, Rangari, Rangri and Sondwari. A survey in 2001 found only four dialects: Ujjaini (in the districts of Ujjain, Indore, Dewas and Sehore), Rajawari (Ratlam, Mandsaur and Neemuch), Umadwari (Rajgarh) and Sondhwari (Jhalawar, in Rajasthan). About 55% of the population of Malwa can converse in and about 40% of the population is literate in Hindi, the official language of the Madhya Pradesh state.^[60]

Maharashtra

Vidarbha

Vidarbha is a region that comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions of eastern Maharashtra. The State Reorganisation Act of 1956 placed Vidarbha in Bombay State. Shortly after this, the States 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.

Khandesh

Khandesh is a region of central India, which forms the northwestern portion of Maharashtra state.^[61] Khandesh was the region demarcated as a boundary after which Dakkhan a.k.a. Deccan started. Originally The Khandesh state was founded and ruled by the Faruqi dynasty with the capital at Burhanpur which is now in Madhya Pradesh. Khandesh State had covered the area of the today's Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar districts of Maharashtra state and Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh state. The terms "Khandesh" and "Deccan" thus connote historical and political affiliations, as well as geographical zones. Khandesh lies on the Northwestern corner of the Deccan plateau, in the valley of the Tapi River, and is bound to the north by the Satpura Range, to the east by the Berar (Vidarbha) region, to the south by the Hills of Ajanta, belonging to the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, and to the west by the northernmost ranges of the Western Ghats, and beyond them the coastal plain of Gujarat.

After India's independence in 1947, Bombay province became Bombay state, which in 1960 was divided into the linguistic states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. During the formation of the State of India, Burhanpur became the part of the state Of Madhya Pradesh, and in 1960, East Khandesh became Jalgaon district, and West Khandesh became Dhule of the Maharashtra State.

Marathwada

Marathwada (IPA:Marāṭhvāḍā) is one of the five regions in Indian state of Maharashtra. The region coincides with the Aurangabad Division of Maharashtra. Marathwada become a part of Nizam of Hyderabad, which later came to be known as the princely state of Hyderabad but under the suzerainty of British India. Subsequently, through Operation Polo, a “police action” on September 17, 1948, the Indian army annexed Hyderabad to India and on November 1, 1956, Marathwada was transferred from Hyderabad State to Bombay State. On May 1, 1960, Bombay state was divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat states, Marathwada becoming a part of the former.

Konkan

Konkan is a rugged section of the western coastline of India. It consists of the coastal districts of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. The ancient sapta-Konkan is a slightly larger region described in the Sahyadrikhanda which refers to it as "Parashuramakshetra".

NCR (National Capital Region)

DELHI /ˈdɛli/ , Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Gurgaon, Sonipat, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida forms the National Capital Region, with a population of about 22 million residents.^[62][63] The political administration of Delhi more closely resembles that of a state than a union territory, with its own legislature, high court and an executive council of ministers headed by a Chief Minister. New Delhi is jointly administered by the Union government and the local government of Delhi. The previous National Democratic Alliance government introduced a bill in Parliament in 2003, to grant full statehood to Delhi, but the legislation was not passed.^[64]

North East

Kuki land

The Kuki Hills was an independent hill country during the pre-British colonial period. It was merged by the colonial power into Manipur. The Kuki people under the leadership of Kuki State Demand Committee^[65] demand statehood for the Kuki areas in Manipur, i.e. Sadar Hills, Chandel, Churachandpur districts and some parts of Ukhrul, Tamenglong districts to be formed as Kukiland.^[66]

Odisha

Kosal

The Kosal region is the entire Western Odisha area located in Odisha state, between 19° 37’- 23° N latitude and 82° 28’- 85° 22’ E longitudes comprising the districts of Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Debagarh, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Sonepur, Boudh, Bolangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Aathmallik sub-division of Angul district and Kashipur block of Rayagada district. It is surrounded by Jharkhand state on the north, on the east by the dist of Keonjhar, 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.

Tamil Nadu

Kongu Nadu

There have been demands for the creation of separate state of Kongu Nadu (also called Kongadesam, the ancient Chera Kingdom), comprising the regions of western Tamil Nadu, parts of southern Karanataka and northern Kerala with capital at Coimbatore, based on demography, culture, linguistics and other factors. There have been claims that the Kongu Nadu region has often been ignored by successive governments in spite of being the largest contributor to the state's economy. A number of political outfits including Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi, Kongu Vellala Goundergal Peravai and Tamil Nadu Kongu Ilaignar Peravai are active in the region claiming to fight for the rights of the region.^{[67][68][69][70]}

Uttar Pradesh

At least four states have been proposed to be carved out of Uttar Pradesh.^[71]

Braj Pradesh/Harit Pradesh/Paschimanchal

Harit Pradesh is a proposed state, which would comprise 22 districts of Western Uttar Pradesh, currently forming six divisions – Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Meerut, Moradabad, and Saharanpur. 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.

There is another demand within the same region - 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.^[72][73] So far, Braj has remained as a historical and cultural region, rather than a political entity. Language of Braj is Braj Bhasha.

Awadh

The population of proposed Awadh state consisting of Awadhi speaking districts of central Uttar Pradesh would be approximately 50 million people, with an area of approximately 75,000 km² and Lucknow as the capital.

Purvanchal

Purvanchal (Hindi: पूर्वांचल, Urdu: پُورواںچل) 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.^[74] 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.^[75] out of Uttar Pradesh. Current movement for Purvanchal is spearheaded by politician Amar Singh.

Bundelkhand

Bundelkhand comprises parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. While the Bahujan Samaj Party government under Mayawati proposed in 2011 the creation of Bundelkhand from seven districts of Uttar Pradesh, organisations such as Bundelkhand Mukti Morcha (BMM) want it to include six districts from Madhya Pradesh as well.^[76] Uma Bharati of Bharatiya Janata Party promised a separate state of Bundelkhand within three years if her party was voted to power, during campaigning for the Loksabha Election, 2014 at Jhansi.^[77] Similar promise was made by Congress leader Pradeep Jain Aditya during Loksabha Election, 2014.^[78]

Since the early 1960s there has been a movement for establishing a Bundelkhand state or promoting development of the region. Bundelkhand is geographically the central part of India covering part of Madhya Pradesh and part of Uttar Pradesh. In spite of being rich in minerals, the people of Bundelkhand are very poor and the region is underdeveloped and underrepresented in state and central politics.^[55][79] Agrarian crisis and farmer's suicides is also cited as reason for separate statehood.^[80]

West Bengal

Gorkhaland

Gorkhaland (Nepali: गोर्खाल्याण्ड) is a proposed state covering areas inhabited by the ethnic Gorkha (Nepali) people, namely Darjeeling hills and Dooars in the northern part of West Bengal.^[81] The movement for Gorkhaland has gained momentum in the line of ethno-linguistic-cultural sentiment of the people who desire to identify themselves as Gorkha.^[82]

The demand for a separate administrative region has existed since 1907, when the Hillmen's is Association of Darjeeling submitted a memorandum to the Morley-Minto reforms committee.^[83] After Indian independence, the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) was the first political party from the region to demand greater identity for the Gorkha ethnic group and economic freedom for the community. In 1980, the Pranta Parishad of Darjeeling wrote to the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, with the need to form a state for the Gorkhas.

The movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland gained serious momentum during the 1980s, when a violent agitation was carried out by Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) led by Subhash Ghising. The agitation ultimately led to the establishment of a semiautonomous body in 1988 called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) to govern certain areas of Darjeeling district. However, in 2008, a new party called the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) raised the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland once again.^[84] In 2011, GJM signed an agreement with the state and central governments for the formation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, a semiautonomous body that replaced the DGHC in the Darjeeling hills.^[85]

Kamtapur

Kamtapur in northern parts of West Bengal.^[86] The proposed state consists of the districts of Koch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and southern plains of Darjeeling including Siliguri city.

Sindh

In an interview with All India Radio, Sindhi political leader G.M. Syed advocated the independence of Sindh from Pakistan to form Sindhudesh, or confederation of Sindh with India.^[87] In a speech, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi told the Sindhi diaspora in India that Sindh returning to India is an accomplishable dream.^[88]

According to Gul Agha, India is a country that is well suited to the secular Sufi mindset of the Sindhi people.^[89] There were an estimated 3.5 million Sindhis in India, when the number of SIndhis in Pakistan was roughly 32 million.^[90]

Smaller proposals

• Karaikal district is one of the four districts of Puducherry, lying 150 km (93 mi) south of Pondicherry. There is a movement advocating the formation of a separate union territory because of a perceived lack of development compared to the rest of Puducherry.^[91]
• Konkan, comprising the Konkani-speaking areas of Raigad, Ratnagiri, Thane, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Sindhudurg districts in Maharashtra.^[92][93]

See also

• States and territories of India
• Autonomous regions of India
• Separatist movements of India

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Proposed states and union territories in India.

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

Proposed states and territories of India Proposed states Awadh‎ (Uttar Pradesh) Bodoland (Assam) Bagelkhand (Uttar Pradesh/Madhya Pradesh) Bundelkhand (Uttar Pradesh/Madhya Pradesh) Coastal Andhra (Andhra Pradesh) Chola Nadu (Tamil Nadu) Delhi Dogradesh (Jammu and Kashmir) Gondwana (Northern Deccan Plateau) Gorkhaland (West Bengal) Gird (Madhya Pradesh) Harit Pradesh (Uttar Pradesh) Kalyana Karnataka (Karnataka) Kamtapur (West Bengal) Karbi Anglong (Assam) Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir) Khandesh (Maharashtra) Kodagu (Karnataka) Kongu Nadu (Tamil Nadu) Kosal (Odisha) Mahakoshal (Madhya Pradesh) Malwa (Madhya Pradesh) Marathwada (Maharashtra) Maru Pradesh (Rajasthan) Mithila (Bihar) Pandya Nadu (Tamil Nadu) Panun Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir) Purvanchal (Uttar Pradesh/Bihar) Dhuri-Sangrur-Malerkotla (Punjab/Haryana) Rayalaseema (Andhra Pradesh) Saurashtra (Gujarat) Seemanchal (Uttar Pradesh/Bihar) Tipraland (Tripura) Tulu Nadu (Karnataka/Kerala) Vidarbha (Maharashtra) Vindhya Pradesh (Madhya Pradesh) Uttarandhra (Andhra Pradesh) Proposed territories Karaikal (Puducherry) Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) Belgaum (Karnataka) Sangrur Punjab/Haryana Current states and territories