Last Updated on 26/07/2024 by Ankita Jain
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey made a strange demand on Thursday. He said that some areas of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal should be combined and made a union territory.
Raising this issue in the Lok Sabha, Nishikant Dubey said that the population of tribals is decreasing in the Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand due to Bangladeshi intruders. Nishikant Dubey is also an MP from the Godda seat of the Santhal Pargana region.
Why the demand to make it 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 combined to form a union territory. Along with this, NRC should also be implemented here.
There are six districts in Santhal Pargana region- 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. He said, most of the women contesting Lok Sabha and district panchayat elections have Muslim husbands. 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 are driving out the Hindu population from the villages.
Dubey claimed that when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000, the tribal population in Santhal Pargana region was 36%, which has now come down 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 an area become a Union Territory?
Only the Central Government has the right to declare any area or region as a Union Territory. That too, only when it is approved by the Parliament.
Many things are taken into consideration while making any area or region a union territory. For example, areas which are part of India but are very far from the mainland. Therefore, they cannot become part of any neighboring state. Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar are examples of this. Both are part of India, but are far 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 a region, it is made a union territory. Apart from this, union territories are also made for political and administrative reasons.
Union territories are created for these three reasons
1. Geographical reasons: There are some parts of India which are very far from the mainland. Also, 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 union territories. Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar are examples of this.
2. Cultural reasons: Daman Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli were ruled by Portugal for a long time and Puducherry was ruled by France for a long time, so the culture here matches theirs. 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. Delhi has been kept separate from other states like the US capital Washington DC. An assembly has also been kept here. Similarly, when Punjab and Haryana became separate states, there was a dispute over Chandigarh. Hence Chandigarh was also made a union territory. Apart from Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir also have their own assemblies.
Who has control of the Union Territories?
In the states, their elected governments work, but the Union Territories are directly ruled by the President. The President appoints an ‘Administrator’ and a ‘Lieutenant Governor’ in every Union Territory.
The President governs the Union Territories with the help of these administrators and Lieutenant Governors. However, according to the Constitution, the President does everything on the advice of the cabinet, so these are governed by the Central Government.
Andaman-Nicobar, Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu-Kashmir have Lieutenant Governors. While Daman Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh and Ladakh have administrators.