Pariksha SaathiLesson 4 of 10 · Madhya Pradesh General Knowledge
Formation of Madhya Pradesh: Merger of 1956, Legislature, High Court and State Symbols
Drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked on 28 October 2026; not yet read line by line by a human editor. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Editorial standards & corrections
Four units before 1956
After independence the area of the present state lay in four units. Old Madhya Pradesh, a Part A state, was the former Central Provinces and Berar with its capital at Nagpur, and Pandit Ravishankar Shukla was its Chief Minister. Madhya Bharat, a Part B state, was formed on 28 May 1948 from Gwalior, Indore and smaller Malwa states, with Jiwajirao Scindia as Rajpramukh and Gwalior and Indore as its winter and summer capitals. Vindhya Pradesh, formed in 1948 from the princely states of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand with Rewa as capital, became a Part C state in 1950. Bhopal State, merged with India on 1 June 1949, was also a Part C state, and Shankar Dayal Sharma was its Chief Minister from 1952 to 1956.
The reorganisation of 1956
The States Reorganisation Commission of 1953, with Fazl Ali as chairman and K. M. Panikkar and H. N. Kunzru as members, reported in 1955, and the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 followed. Madhya Pradesh was formed on 1 November 1956 by joining Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, Bhopal State and the Hindi-speaking Mahakoshal districts of old Madhya Pradesh. The Marathi-speaking Vidarbha districts, including Nagpur, went to Bombay State; the Sunel enclave of Mandsaur went to Rajasthan, and the Sironj sub-division of Kota came to Madhya Pradesh. The new state was then the largest in India by area, and 1 November is celebrated every year as Madhya Pradesh Sthapana Diwas.
Capital and first office-holders
Bhopal, the capital of the former Bhopal State, became the capital of the new state. The first Governor was Dr B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya, the first Chief Minister Pandit Ravishankar Shukla, who died on 31 December 1956, and the first Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha Pandit Kunjilal Dubey. Justice M. Hidayatullah, later Chief Justice of India and Vice-President, was the first Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The state secretariat (Mantralaya) is Vallabh Bhawan in Bhopal, and the Vidhan Bhavan was designed by the architect Charles Correa.
Separation of Chhattisgarh
The Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 created Chhattisgarh out of the south-eastern districts on 1 November 2000, exactly 44 years after the state was formed, with Raipur as its capital. Madhya Pradesh lost the Bhilai steel plant, the Korba power and aluminium centre, the Bailadila iron ore mines and much of the Bastar forest, and became the second largest state by area after Rajasthan. The Vidhan Sabha fell from 320 to 230 seats as 90 seats went to Chhattisgarh; Lok Sabha seats fell from 40 to 29 and Rajya Sabha seats from 16 to 11.
The legislature
Madhya Pradesh has a unicameral legislature, the Vidhan Sabha, with 230 members elected for five years; since the 2008 delimitation, 35 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 47 for Scheduled Tribes. The Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956 added Madhya Pradesh to Article 168 among the states with a Legislative Council, but that provision was to come into force only on a date to be notified by the President, which has never happened, so no Vidhan Parishad has ever existed. The state elects 29 members to the Lok Sabha, with 4 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and 6 for Scheduled Tribes, and 11 members to the Rajya Sabha.
Courts and state bodies
The High Court of Madhya Pradesh has its principal seat at Jabalpur and benches at Indore and Gwalior; it traces its origin to the Nagpur High Court of 1936. The Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) is at Indore and the Board of Revenue at Gwalior, while the Lokayukta, set up under an Act of 1981, the State Election Commission and the Board of Secondary Education are at Bhopal. After the 73rd Constitutional Amendment the state passed its Panchayat Raj Act in 1993 and in 1994 held panchayat elections under the new system; it is often cited as the first state to do so.
State symbols
The state animal is the barasingha (swamp deer), whose hard-ground subspecies survives in Kanha; the state bird is the dudhraj or Indian paradise flycatcher; and the state tree is the banyan (bargad). The mahseer was declared the state fish in 2011 and malkhamb the state sport in 2013, and the state song Mera Madhya Pradesh, written by Mahesh Shrivastava, was adopted in 2010. These symbols are frequent one-line questions, often framed as matching pairs.
Key facts
- Before 1956: old Madhya Pradesh (Part A, capital Nagpur), Madhya Bharat (Part B, Gwalior and Indore), Vindhya Pradesh (Part C, Rewa) and Bhopal (Part C).
- Madhya Bharat was formed on 28 May 1948 with Jiwajirao Scindia as Rajpramukh; Bhopal merged with India on 1 June 1949.
- States Reorganisation Commission: Fazl Ali (chairman), K. M. Panikkar and H. N. Kunzru; Madhya Pradesh formed on 1 November 1956.
- Firsts: Governor Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Chief Minister Ravishankar Shukla, Speaker Kunjilal Dubey, Chief Justice M. Hidayatullah.
- Chhattisgarh formed on 1 November 2000 under the MP Reorganisation Act, 2000: Vidhan Sabha 320 to 230, Lok Sabha 40 to 29, Rajya Sabha 16 to 11.
- Vidhan Sabha: 230 seats (35 SC, 47 ST); unicameral; a Vidhan Parishad was provided for by the Seventh Amendment, 1956 but never set up.
- Lok Sabha: 29 seats (4 SC, 6 ST); Rajya Sabha: 11 seats.
- Locations: High Court Jabalpur (benches Indore and Gwalior), MPPSC Indore, Board of Revenue Gwalior, Mantralaya at Vallabh Bhawan, Bhopal.
- State symbols: animal barasingha, bird dudhraj, tree banyan, fish mahseer (2011), sport malkhamb (2013), song Mera Madhya Pradesh (2010).
Quick revision
Before 1956: old MP (Part A, Nagpur), Madhya Bharat (Part B, 28 May 1948), Vindhya Pradesh (Rewa), Bhopal (merged 1 June 1949); SRC of Fazl Ali; MP formed 1 Nov 1956, capital Bhopal; first Governor Pattabhi Sitaramayya, CM Ravishankar Shukla, Speaker Kunjilal Dubey, CJ Hidayatullah; Chhattisgarh separated 1 Nov 2000; Vidhan Sabha 230 (35 SC, 47 ST), unicameral; Lok Sabha 29, Rajya Sabha 11; High Court Jabalpur with Indore and Gwalior benches; MPPSC Indore; barasingha, dudhraj, banyan, mahseer, malkhamb.