A few weeks before the State government celebrated Tamil Nadu Day on July 18, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s floor leader in the Legislative Assembly, Nainar Nagenthran, floated the idea of bifurcating the State.
Even though the BJP leader’s idea was a reaction to the call of DMK MP A. Raja for greater State autonomy, the row highlighted in a nuanced way that Tamil Nadu remained the largest State in the southern region of the country. The process of carving out the State began in 1953 and concluded in 1960. The period was not without controversies, but the sagacity of the then leaders ensured that it was a relatively peaceful process, unlike in the Maharashtra-Gujarat belt, where widespread violence broke out in 1956 during the reorganisation of States.
The borders of Tamil Nadu were shaped by two broad events — the formation of Andhra State in October 1953 and the transfer of areas such as Kanniyakumari and Shencottah to the State in November 1956 at the time of creation of Kerala.
