BJP MP Nishikant Dubey made a strange demand on Thursday. He said that some areas of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal should be merged and made a union territory.
Raising this issue in the Lok Sabha, Nishikant Dubey said that the population of tribals is decreasing due to Bangladeshi infiltrators in the Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand. Nishikant Dubey is also an MP from Godda seat of Santhal Pargana region.
Why the demand to create a Union Territory?
He said that Malda and Murshidabad of West Bengal, Araria, Kishanganj and Katihar of Bihar and Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand should be merged and made a union territory. Along with this, NRC should also be implemented here.
Santhal Pargana region consists of six districts – Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur.
Nishikant Dubey claimed that Bangladeshi infiltrators come to these areas and marry tribal women, who contest elections from District Panchayat to Lok Sabha elections. He said, most of the women contesting Lok Sabha and District Panchayat elections have husbands who are Muslims. There are at least 100 villages in Jharkhand where the husbands of the village heads are Muslims.
He said that this is not a Hindu-Muslim issue, but a matter of outsiders settling in the area. Dubey said that the population of Muslims has increased in Santhal Pargana because a large number of people are coming from Malda and Murshidabad and driving out the Hindu population from the villages.
Dubey claimed that in 2000, when Jharkhand was separated from Bihar, 36% of the population in Santhal Pargana region was of tribals, which has now reduced to 26%. He also claimed that there are 25 assembly seats in the state where the number of Muslim voters has increased from 110% to 125%.
How does a region become a union territory?
Only the Central Government has the right to declare any area or region as a Union Territory. That too, when it is approved in the Parliament.
Many things are kept in mind while making any area or region a union territory. For example, such areas which are part of India but are far away from the mainland. Therefore cannot become a part of any neighboring state. Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar are examples of this. Both are parts of India, but are away from the mainland.
Apart from this, if any area or region is very small in terms of population and area and it is difficult to give it the status of a separate state, then it is made a union territory.
At the same time, to maintain the special cultural identity of any area, they are made Union Territories. Apart from this, Union Territory is also created for political and administrative reasons.
Union territories are created for these three reasons
1. Geographical reasons: There are some parts of India which are far away from the mainland. Besides this, they are so small in terms of population and area that they cannot be given the status of a separate state. In such a situation they are made a Union Territory. Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar are examples of this.
2. Cultural reasons: Daman Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli were ruled by Portugal and Puducherry by France for a long time, hence the culture here matches with them. In such a situation, to maintain their cultural identity, they were given the status of Union Territory.
3. Political reasons: Union territories are also formed due to political and administrative reasons. Like America’s capital Washington DC, Delhi has been kept separate from other states. Assembly is also held here. Similarly, when Punjab and Haryana became separate states, there was a dispute regarding Chandigarh. Therefore, Chandigarh was also made a union territory. Apart from Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir also have their own assemblies.
Who has control of Union Territories?
In the states, their elected governments work, but the Union Territories are directly ruled by the President. The President appoints the ‘Administrator’ and ‘Lieutenant Governor’ in every Union Territory.
The Union Territories are governed by the President with the help of these administrators and Lieutenant Governors. However, according to the Constitution, the President does every work on the advice of the Cabinet, hence he is ruled by the Central Government.
There are Lieutenant Governors in Andaman-Nicobar, Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. Whereas there are administrators in Daman Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh and Ladakh.
