Question

Article 1 of the Indian Constitution declares that Bharat is a _____
A. Union of States
B. Federal state with unitary features
C. Unitary state with federal features
D. Federal State

Answer 1

Hint: In the Indian Constitution, there are three hundred and ninety five articles in twenty two parts. Article one speaks of the status enjoyed by Indian territories and unions. India is a federal country, but a large importance is given to the center. In essence, it can be called as a union of states and comes under part one which is the union and territories in the constitution of India.

Complete answer:
Indian Constitution is one of the longest constitutions in the world. It forms the backbone of India, as an independent nation.Dr BR Ambedkar is known as the father of Indian constitution.
The Constitution begins with the preamble which is the essence of the Indian Constitution and contains 465 articles, 12 schedules, 22 amendments and 146385 words in it and was originally written in Hindi and English. The first article is an integral part of it, as it lays the foundation of our democracy, and existence in form of a nation.
Article 1 in the Constitution states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States. The territory of India shall consist of the territories of the states, the Union territories and any territory that may be acquired in future. Their names have been prescribed in the first schedule and divided into four categories of Part A, B, C and D.
Part A includes the nine provinces which were under British India, Part B refers to princely states consisting of this category, Part C prescribes centrally administered five states and Part D refers to Andaman and Nicobar.
Later, in the seventh amendment to the Constitution, the distinction between Part A and B was abolished, and states were reorganized based on the language. This caused the formation of new states like Haryana.
So, the correct answer is option A.

Note: There is still an ongoing debate whether the term India should be removed from the Article on the basis that India is a foreign term and doesn’t belong to our nation. The petition argues that Bharat is closely associated with our freedom struggle, especially at the times of slogans like ‘Bharat mata ki Jai.’
There is also a difference between the other two terms. The Union of India includes only the States which possess the Status of being members of the federal system and sharing the powers with it.
The territory of India includes the States and the Union Territories and such other territories as may be acquired by India in future.