Also: formation of new states, alteration of areas, boundaries or names of states
Definition
The constitutional provision that lets Parliament, by ordinary law, form new states, change the area, boundaries or name of any state, after the President refers the bill to the affected state legislature for its views, which are not binding.
The Constitution calls India a "Union of States" in Article 1, a phrase B. R. Ambedkar explained as meaning that the Indian federation was not the result of an agreement among states, and that no state has the right to secede. Because the territorial map of India in 1950 was a patchwork of former British provinces and integrated princely states, the framers expected that boundaries would need to change. They gave Parliament a flexible power to redraw the map, without requiring the consent of the states concerned.
Article 2 deals with admitting or establishing new states that were not part of India, such as Sikkim in 1975. Article 3 deals with reorganising the existing territory of India. Article 4 states that laws under Articles 2 and 3 may contain supplementary, incidental and consequential provisions, for example on representation in Parliament and the legislature, and that they shall not be deemed amendments of the Constitution under Article 368. This means they can be passed by a simple majority.
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