The Modern History of Madhya Pradesh
This article present the history of Madhya Pradesh after the decline of the Maratha Empire and the rule of the British and formation of the Central India Agency. Post Independence formation of the state, the political presence in the state along with bifurcation and formation of the state of Chhattisgarh.
The Developments in the state of Madhya Pradesh continued even after the Medieval period and the end of the Mughal Empire rule. After the Marathas, The British who were expanding their influence from all sides of Madhya Pradesh, that is, from Bombay, Bengal and Madras, took no time to enterinto Madhya Pradesh which was the link in between all the three dominions. In between 1775 to 1818, the British and the Marathas fought three wars to win over the Maratha Empire. In the Third Anglo – Maratha war, the British defeated the Marathas and most of the Madhya Pradesh came under the rule of the British. The large states of Indore, Gwalior, Nagpur, Rewa and other smaller states came to be known as the Princely states of the British empire, the state of Mahakoshal became a British province and the Saugor and Nerbudda territories were known as the Territories. All these together came to be known as the Central Province in 1861. All the princely states which were included in the Central Province were governed by the Central India Agency. Formation of Madhya Pradesh in 1950 After Indian Independence in 1950, the state of Madhya Pradesh was created. The former states of the British Central Indian Province, Berar, Chhattisgarh and the Makrai princely state together formed the state of Madhya Pradesh. Nagpur was the capital of this state. New states were formed from the Central India Agency which were formed the Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal. Changes in 1956 On 1st November 1956, The states of Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal became a multipart of Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha which was a Marathi Language speaking region in majority was merged into the then Bombay State to formed the State of Maharashtra. Bhopal became the capital city of the new state of Madhya Pradesh. Changes in 2000 On 1st November 2000, the state of Madhya Pradesh bifurcated again into Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Current Government Politics of Madhya Pradesh The head of the Constitution of the state of Madhya Pradesh is appointed by the President of India. Ram Naresh Yadav is the current governer of the state of Madhya Pradesh. The state Legislative assembly of Madhya Pradesh comprises of 230 seats. Apart from the Legislative assembly, the Parliament of India has 40 members from Madhya Pradesh of which, the Lok Sabha has 29 elected members and the Rajya Sabha has 11 elected members. Political Parties in Madhya Pradesh While many political parties exist in Madhya Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party – BJP, and the Indian National Congress – INC have a dominant presence in the state. At large, Madhya Pradesh has a two party system, with the smaller parties amalgamating in the larger parties or having no success at all. In 2008 elections, the BJP party won the elections with 143 seats, Congress getting 71 seats and Bahujan Samaj party with only 7 seats. The current chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He came after Babulal Gaur and Uma Bharti. The BJP stands in for the post of Chief Ministers after it won the elections in 2003. Before 2003, Digvijay Singh was the chief minister for the state of Madhya Pradesh for a long time. In 2004, BJP party won the general elections by winning 25 seats out of 29 and the congress acquiring only 5 seats. Physical Aspects of the state of Madhya Pradesh
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