Statehood Day of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura

• 22 Jan 2020

On the Statehood Day of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura (21^st January), Prime Minister and other leaders praised the traditions and culture of the three northeast states.

• On 21^st January, 1972, all the three states became full-fledged states under the North Eastern Region (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

Merger of Manipur with India

• Before 15^th August 1947, peaceful negotiations had brought almost all states whose territories were contiguous to the new boundaries of India, into the Indian Union.
• The rulers of most of the states signed a document called the ‘Instrument of Accession’ which meant that their state agreed to become a part of the Union of India.
• A few days before Independence, the Maharaja of Manipur, Bodhachandra Singh, signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on the assurance that the internal autonomy of Manipur would be maintained.
• 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 an election based on universal adult franchise.
• In the Legislative Assembly of Manipur there were sharp differences over the question of merger of Manipur with India. The Government of India succeeded in pressuring the Maharaja into signing a Merger Agreement in September 1949, without consulting the popularly elected Legislative Assembly of Manipur.

Merger of Tripura with India

• Tripura was princely state till the merger with Indian union on 15^th November, 1949.
• The last king Bir Bikram who was on the throne, immediately before India's independence, died on 17^th May, 1947.
• After his demise, his minor son Kirri Bikram Mannikya took the throne of Tripura kingdom, but he could not rule as he was minor.
• So his widow queen Kanchan Prabha took the charge of regency of Tripura and took over the administrative charges.
• She was instrumental for Merger of Tripura kingdom in Indian Union.

Merger of Meghalaya into India

• In 1947 the rulers of the Garo and Khasi region acceded to the newly independent country of India.
• Meghalaya, a small hilly state located in the North Eastern Region of India, came into existence as an autonomous state within the state of Assam on 2 April 1970 comprising the United Khasi and Jaintia Hills and the Garo Hills districts.

Changes Made in 1972

• In 1972, the political map of Northeast India underwent a major change.
• The two Union Territories of Manipur and Tripura and the Sub-State of Meghalaya got statehood.

Source: PIB