No proposal to bifurcate Tamil Nadu under consideration: Centre

The Central Government on Tuesday told Parliament that there was no proposal under its consideration to bifurcate Tamil Nadu.

“Presently, no such proposal is under consideration,” Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha in response to a question from members from Tamil Nadu.

Lok Sabha members T R Paarivendhar and S Ramalingam had asked whether the government had any proposal to bifurcate any state in the country, including the state of Tamil Nadu.

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The question was raised amid speculation over carving out the 'Kongu Nadu' region in western Tamil Nadu as a separate state after the BJP mentioned it as the region to which Minister of State L Murugan belongs to, instead of Namakkal, his hometown.

Kongu Nadu, which comprises Namakkal, Salem, Tirupur and Coimbatore, is considered as the stronghold of the Gounder community, a powerful Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state.