India is described as a ‘Union of States’ in Article 1 of Indian constitution. According to B. R. Ambedkar, the phrase ‘Union of States’ has been preferred to ‘Federation of States’ for two reasons: one, the Indian federation is not the result of an agreement among the states like the American Federation; and two, the states have no right to secede from the federation. Indian states are created on the basis of lingual or cultural homogeneity. Andhra is the first lingual state created after great agitation. But under the original Constitution, Indian states were classified into four folds which had 16 States and 3 centrally administered territories. By the State Reorganization Act of 1956, these four folds were abolished. Even after the large-scale reorganization of the states in 1956, the political map of India underwent continuous changes. The demand for the creation of more states on the basis of language and cultural homogeneity resulted in the bifurcation of existing states. At present, India is a union of 28 States and 8 Union Territories.

Sajaykumar Yesodharan

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