Statehood Day: Celebrating Tripura, Manipur, and Meghalaya

Statehood Day of Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya
⬧ On January 21, 1972, Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya were granted full statehood under the North Eastern Areas (Reorganization) Act, 1971.
⬧ Before August 15, 1947, through peaceful negotiations, almost all such states, whose borders were with the Indian Union, were united for merger.
⬧ Rulers of most of the states signed the Instrument of Accession, which meant that their state agreed to be a part of the Union of India.
⬧ Tripura- Tripura was a princely state until its merger with the Indian Union and after the death of the last Maharaja Bir Bikram Singh of Tripura on May 17, 1947, Maharani Kanchanprabha (wife of Maharaja Bir Bikram) took over the representation of Tripura state.
⬧ She played an instrumental role in the merger of Tripura State with the Indian Union.
⬧ Manipur - Shortly before independence, Maharaja Bodhchandra Singh of Manipur signed the Instrument of Accession to maintain the internal autonomy of Manipur.
⬧ Under the pressure of public opinion, the Maharaja held elections in Manipur in June, 1948 and the state became a constitutional monarchy. Thus Manipur was the first part of India to hold elections.
⬧ There were extreme differences in the Legislative Assembly of Manipur regarding its merger with India. The Government of India succeeded in getting the Instrument of Accession signed in September 1949 without consulting the Legislative Assembly of Manipur.
⬧ Meghalaya – In the year 1947, the rulers of Garo and Khasi region acceded to the Indian Union.
⬧ Meghalaya, a small hill state located in the north-eastern region of India, came into existence on 2 April 1970 as an autonomous state within the state of Assam.
⬧ In the year 1972, there was a major change in the political map of Northeast India and the union territories of Manipur and Tripura and the sub-state of Meghalaya got the status of the state.