Bhopal (state)

Bhopal - भोपाल

status	former state
Capital	Bhopal
founding	June 1, 1949
Dissolution / merger	November 1, 1956 ( States Reorganization Act : Incorporation into Madhya Pradesh )
Residents	850,000 (1950)
languages	Hindi
Location of Bhopal in India (1951)

Bhopal ( Hindi भोपाल ) was a state in India that existed from 1949 to 1956.

history

After the British granted independence to the Indian subcontinent under their rule in 1947 , two successor states emerged, India and Pakistan . The numerous Indian princely states that had not been directly under British rule but were ruled by local princes who were in a personal relationship of loyalty to the British crown were faced with the choice of joining either India or Pakistan. Although his country was in the middle of India and thus realistically only an affiliation with India was possible, the Muslim nawab of Bhopal Hamidullah Khan , chancellor of the chamber of princes in British India and a personal friend Muhammad Ali since 1944 , hesitated Jinnahs , with the decision and tried to pursue an independent policy for a short time.

After discussions with, among others, Louis Mountbatten , the last viceroy and first governor-general of the Dominion India and VP Menon , the secretary Vallabhbhai Patels , the Nawab and the equally hesitant neighboring Maharaja of Indore, as one of the last Indian princes, decided to accept the Instrument of Accession , ie to join India. The official annexation to India took place on August 15, 1947. The Nawab appointed a new government and in March 1948 expressed his wish that Bhopal should continue to exist as a separate political entity within India. B. not part of a larger state, e.g. B. a union of former princely states should be. In contrast, VP Menon in particular had clearly spoken out in favor of Bhopal joining the neighboring Madhya Bharat . Given the continued autocratic government of the Nawab and its ambivalent attitude towards India, riots broke out in Bhopal in 1948, which led to the arrest of leading activists, including Shankar Dayal Sharma . There was a government crisis, the government of Bhopal was taken over on June 1, 1949 with the agreement of the Nawab by a Chief Commissioner of the Indian central government and Bhopal was converted into a "Class C" state. The Nawab were all the possessions and alimony ( Privy Purse guaranteed) by the Indian state.

elections

During the brief period of Bhopal State's existence, elections to the regional parliament were held once in 1951. The election was won by the Congress Party . It received 52% of the vote and won 25 of the 30 seats in parliament. The Hindu nationalist parties Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha and Bharatiya Jana Sangh won 14.0% and 4.9% of the vote and 1 and 0 seats, respectively. Independent individual candidates received 22.9% of the vote and 4 mandates. From 1952 to 1956, Shankar Dayal Sharma (Congress Party) was Chief Minister of Bhopal. In the first election to the all-Indian parliament 1951-1952 , Bhopal was divided into two constituencies ( Seehore and Raisen ). Both constituencies were won with a clear majority by candidates from the Congress party. In the Rajya Sabha , the state house of the Indian parliament, Bhopal had one vote (out of 215).

Dissolution and affiliation with Madhya Pradesh

After there had been considerations and demands for a reorganization of the internal administrative borders of India, which resulted from the colonial era, according to linguistic and cultural aspects for decades, this concept was implemented in the States Reorganization Act 1956. The state of Bhopal was dissolved and, like the neighboring Madhya Bharat, was annexed to the state of Madhya Pradesh .

Web links

• History of Bhopal , short history of the princely state and federal state at bhopal.nic.in (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Gazette of India Extraordinary. (pdf) The Government of India, April 17, 1950, accessed on November 6, 2015 (English, digital archive of the issues of the Gazette of India at http://www.egazette.nic.in/ ). 
2. ^ Sankar Ghose: Jawaharlal Nehru, a Biography. Allied Publishers Pvt Ltd. Pp. 181-183 ISBN 8170233690 .
3. ↑ Madhya Pradesh High Court: Iqbal Ahmed vs State Of Bhopal on February 23, 1953. February 23, 1953, accessed on September 19, 2015 (English, reliable source on the date of the annexation to India). 
4. ↑ SR Bakshi And OP Ralhan: Madhya Pradesh Through the Ages. Volume 4: Social Revolution towards Swaraj. In: Studies in Indian History. Sarup & Sons, New Delhi 2007, p. 360 ISBN 81-7625-806-7 .
5. ↑ ^{a b} Election Results - Full Statistical Reports. Indian Election Commission, accessed on September 19, 2015 (English, election results of all Indian elections to the Lok Sabha and the parliaments of the states since independence). 

Coordinates: 23 ° 15 '  N , 77 ° 30'  E