There are no plans to bifurcate Tamil Nadu at present, the Union Government told the Parliament on Tuesday, August 3, putting an end to rumours about the bifurcation of the state and the creation of a region called Kongu Nadu comprising the western belt of Tamil Nadu. “Creation of a new state has wide ramifications and direct bearing on the federal polity of our country. Government moves on the matter of formation of new States after taking into consideration all relevant factors. Presently no such proposal is under consideration,” read the answer by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai to an unstarred question in Parliament.

The question was tabled by Dr TR Paarivendhar, the DMK MP of Perambalur in Tamil Nadu and Mayiladuthurai MP S Ramalingam who is also a DMK leader in the Lok Sabha. The MPs asked if the Union Government had any proposal to bifurcate any state in the country including the state of Tamil Nadu. They also asked the Union Government to list the reasons, purpose and motive of such a bifurcation if it was decided.

The MPs also asked if the government had received any demand from any individual or organisation to bifurcate Tamil Nadu and if so, by when. To the second question, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs answered, “Demands and representations are received from time to time from various individuals and organisations for creation of new states,” adding that the government had no plans to split Tamil Nadu.

Earlier in July, protests erupted when the Union Government introduced former TN BJP Chief L Murugan as a man from Kongu Nadu while announcing him as a Union Minister of State in PM Modi’s new cabinet. Since the Modi government divided Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, there have been hushed talks in the political circles that the government may divide Tamil Nadu into smaller states or union territories.