Demands for creation of new states cannot be “considered immediately”, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday said in response to a question on the status of such proposals in the wake of the Telangana decision.
“Many states are requesting separation... in Maharashtra there is (the demand for) Vidarbha, in West Bengal, there is a call for a separate Darjeeling and Gorkhaland, in Uttar Pradesh, there is a (demand for) four states.
“There have been demands... (but) they cannot be considered immediately. As and when it is needed, we will consider (them),” Mr. Shinde told reporters here.
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According to official data, demands for separate states have come from across the country — for Kukiland in Manipur to Kongu Nadu in Tamil Nadu and for Kamtapur in North Bengal to Tulu Nadu in Karnataka.
Except for UP, which during the Mayawati—led BSP regime, had proposed to create four new entities after dividing the country’s most populous state, no state government has given any recommendation for carving out a new state.
The demands in Uttar Pradesh, call for the state to be divided into Awadh Pradesh, Poorvanchal, Bundelkhand and Pachimanchal or Harit Pradesh.
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There is also a demand for the creation of a Braj Pradesh, comprising the Agra and Aligarh divisions of UP along with the districts of Bharatpur and Gwalior from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, respectively.
A demand for the creation of Bhojpur, comprising areas of eastern UP, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, has also been received by the Home Ministry.
Further, there has been an old agitation for creation of a separate Vidarbha by carving out the Vidarbha region from Maharashtra.
Demands for Bodoland, comprising the Bodo-dominated areas of Western Assam, and a separate state of Karbi Anglong, consisting of the Karbi tribal areas under the Karbi Anglong autonomous district of Assam, have also been pending with the Centre.
There is a demand for Mithilanchal comprising Maithili speaking regions of Bihar and Jharkhand.
The Centre has received a demand for creation of Saurashtra by taking out that region from Gujarat.
The Dimasa people of Northeast have been demanding a separate state called Dimaraji or Dimaland, comprising the Dimasa inhabited areas of Assam and Nagaland.
The demand for a separate Kukiland, comprising Kuki tribal inhabited areas of Manipur, has also been raised.
There is a demand for creation of Kongu Nadu comprising parts of southwest Tamil Nadu, southeast Karnataka and east Kerala.
Calls for a separate Tulu Nadu, comprising a region on the border between Karnataka and Kerala, too, have been made.
A demand for the creation of a Coorg state, comprising the Coorg region of Karnataka, has also come to the Centre.
A representation has also been received for creation of a separate Kosal state comprising some districts of Odisha, parts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
A demand for creation of Konkan, comprising the Konkani speaking parts of Western India along the Arabian Sea coastline, has also been raised.
The demand for a separate Kamtapur envisages the carving out of districts like Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri from West Bengal.
Some people from the Garo regions of Meghalaya are demanding a new state of Garoland.
Besides, there is a demand for a separate Eastern Nagaland by carving out some parts from the North-eastern state.
The demand for creation of a Union Territory of Ladakh, too, has been pending with the Home Ministry.
India has 28 states and seven Union Territories at present. Telangana will be the 29th state of the country.