Maharashtra is a state in the western peninsular region of India, occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is the second-most populous state in India and the third-largest by area, spanning 307,713 square kilometers. The modern state was officially formed on May 1, 1960, through the enactment of the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960.
The state's creation solved the problem of a bilingual Bombay State, which had been retained despite the linguistic reorganization of states under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The Act of 1956 had enlarged the Bombay State by adding Marathi-speaking regions like Marathwada from Hyderabad state and Vidarbha from the Central Provinces and Berar. This bilingual arrangement, combining Marathi and Gujarati speakers, led to the powerful Samyukta Maharashtra Movement (SMM) and the Mahagujarat movement, demanding separate linguistic states. The SMM, founded on February 6, 1956, agitated for a separate Marathi-speaking state with Mumbai (then Bombay) as its capital.
The Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960 (Act No. 11 of 1960), bifurcated the existing Bombay State into two new states: Maharashtra for the predominantly Marathi-speaking regions and Gujarat for the Gujarati-speaking areas. The Act, which received the President's assent on April 25, 1960, provided for the allocation of territories, assets, and administrative structures. For instance, Section 2(f) of the Act defined the "population ratio" between Maharashtra and Gujarat as 66.31 to 33.69 for the division of certain assets. The Act also included provisions for the reorganization of statutory corporations and the division of legislative representation.
Maharashtra is connected to the broader concept of linguistic federalism in India, as its formation was a direct result of the post-independence demand for states organized on linguistic lines, a principle first generalized by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The state's governance is structured with a bicameral legislature, comprising the Maharashtra Legislative Council (78 seats) and the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (288 seats). The Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960, also necessitated an amendment to Article 371 of the Constitution, which provides for special provisions with respect to the States of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The state's boundaries have remained largely the same since 1960, though the ongoing Belgaum border dispute with Karnataka, concerning areas with mixed Marathi and Kannada-speaking populations, remains a connected issue.