Tendency of Regionalism in Indian Federalism

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that Article-1 of the Indian Constitution says that India is a ‘Union of States.’ Thus, the Indian Constitution does not declare itself as a ‘Federation’. In fact, nowhere in the Constitution the term ‘Federation’ has been used. Instead of it the term ‘Union’ has been used. The dictionary meaning of ‘Union’ is uniting or being united. Thus, the emphasis is on unity while the federation is a system of government in which unity and diversity are both taken into consideration and a balance between the two is sought. While moving, the ‘Draft Constitution’ on November 4, 1948 in the Constituent Assembly Dr. B.R. Ambedkar explained why the term ‘Union’ instead of federation was used. He stated that the Drafting Committee wanted to make it clear that though India was to be a federation, the federation was not the result of an agreement by the States to join in a federation, and that the federation not being the result of an agreement, no State has a right to separate from it. The federation is a union because it is indestructible. Though the country and the people may be divided into different States for convenience of administration, the country is one integral whole, its people a single people living under a single emporium derived from a single source. The Drafting Committee thought that it was better to make it clear at the outset rather than to leave it to speculation or to dispute. The present research paper highlights the tendency of regionalism in Indian Federalism in the present scenario.