Linguistic Reorganisation of States

3.1 The Demand for Linguistic States

The Indian National Congress had committed itself to linguistic provinces in its 1920 Nagpur session when it reorganised its own provincial committees on linguistic lines. The Motilal Nehru Report (1928) supported the idea.

However, after independence, the Constituent Assembly feared that linguistic states might strengthen fissiparous tendencies. Both the Dhar Commission (1948) and the JVP Committee (Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, 1949) recommended deferring linguistic reorganisation on grounds of national unity and administrative practicality.

3.2 The Andhra Agitation (1952–53)

The Telugu-speaking population of Madras State — about 40% of the state — demanded a separate state. The Andhra Mahasabha and Congress politician Potti Sreeramulu championed the cause.

Sreeramulu began a fast unto death on 19 October 1952. Despite appeals, the government did not act. Potti Sreeramulu died on 15 December 1952 after 56 days of fasting, triggering widespread riots across Andhra.

PM Nehru announced the creation of Andhra State (from Madras State minus Madras city) on 19 December 1952; it formally came into existence on 1 October 1953 — the first state formed on linguistic basis. Andhra State became Andhra Pradesh on 1 November 1956 when it merged with the Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad State.

3.3 States Reorganisation Commission (Fazl Ali Commission)

PM Nehru appointed the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) in December 1953 under:

• Sayyid Fazl Ali (Chairman) — retired Supreme Court judge
• H.N. Kunzru — liberal politician
• K.M. Panikkar — diplomat and historian

The SRC submitted its report in September 1955, recommending reorganisation on linguistic lines while safeguarding national unity and administrative efficiency. It rejected total linguistic principle purity — recommending keeping Mumbai (cosmopolitan) as a bilingual state and not supporting a purely Sikh state.

3.4 States Reorganisation Act, 1956

Parliament enacted the States Reorganisation Act (SRA) on 31 August 1956, effective 1 November 1956. It abolished the Part A, B, C, D distinction and created 14 states and 6 Union Territories.

Key new states created/reorganised:

• Kerala — from Travancore-Cochin + Malabar (Malayalam speakers)
• Karnataka (Mysore) — Kannada-speaking areas from Hyderabad, Coorg, Bombay, Madras
• Andhra Pradesh — Andhra State + Telugu Hyderabad
• Madhya Pradesh — Central India + Vindhya Pradesh + Bhopal
• Punjab and PEPSU merger
• Rajasthan — expanded to include Ajmer (merged November 1956)

Post-1956 Major Reorganisations

• Maharashtra and Gujarat (1960) — split from bilingual Bombay State; Mahagujarat Movement and Samyukta Maharashtra Movement forced the split
• Nagaland (1963) — first hill state carved from Assam
• Haryana and Punjab (1966) — split on linguistic (Hindi vs Punjabi/Gurmukhi) lines; Chandigarh as Union Territory
• Meghalaya (1972) — carved from Assam
• Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh (1987)
• Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh (2000)
• Telangana (2014) — carved from Andhra Pradesh, India's 29th state

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