As of 31st October 2019 the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir has been officially split into 2 Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. This comes 3 months after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A.
Crux of the Matter
President’s Rule, which was prevailing in the erstwhile state after the move to remove Article 370, has now been offcially revoked.
Given that the removal of Article 370 removed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the 2 new Union Territories (UT) are now equal parts of India as the rest of the states and UTs. Symbolically, the move was made official on the 144th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who is seen as the uniter of India after independence.
The UT of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature, similar to Delhi and Puducherry. The UT of Ladakh won’t have a legislature, similar to Chandigarh.
India now officially has 28 states and 9 UTs.
Girish Chandra Murmu and Radha Krishna Mathur have been appointed the first Lieutenant Governors of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh respectively.
Curiopedia
A union territory is a type of administrative division in the Republic of India. Unlike the states of India, which have their own governments, union territories are usually federal territories governed directly by the central Government of India. The Parliament of India can pass a law to amend the Constitution and provide a Legislature with elected Members and a Chief Minister for a union territory, as it has done for Delhi and Puducherry. In general, the President of India appoints an administrator or lieutenant-governor for each UT. India has 9 Union Territories of which Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir have an elected legislative assembly and an executive council of ministers with partially state-like function. More Info
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