- What does Article 2 of the Constitution of India say?Article 2 says: “Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit.” However, Parliament cannot establish a new union territory by passing a law; that can only be done through a constitutional amendment. States like Sikkim (previously not within India) became a part of the country under Article 2.
- What was the Constituent Assembly’s debate on Article 2?Article 2 was not deliberated on much because the Constituent Assembly agreed that given India’s size and diversity, a central authority was needed to hold together the country’s administrative structure and prevent it from disintegrating. So the centre was given the power to ‘admit and establish’ new states.
- Which changes to Article 2 were proposed during the debate?During the debate, Assembly member Naziruddin Ahmad argued that Articles 2 and 3 overlapped to a large extent and must be amalgamated. He proposed that Articles 2 and 3 be substituted with Article 2. Assembly member H.V. Kamath proposed that instead of the word ‘Parliament’, Article 2 must use the ‘Parliament of the Union’ to make it absolutely clear which parliament was being referred to.
- Did the Constituent Assembly accept any of these amendments?None of these amendments were accepted and the Draft Article 2 was made part of the Constitution without any changes.
Eduindex News 