Question

Which among the following is a Union Territory?
A. Nagaland
B. Chandigarh
C. Tripura
D. Manipur

Answer 1

Hint: The Constitution deals with the Union and its territory from Articles 1 to 4 under Part I. India, that is, Bharat is described as a ‘Union of States’ rather than a ‘Federation of states’. Two things can be understood from this provision: one is the country’s name and the other is the type of polity.

Complete answer:
According to Article 1 of the Constitution, there are three categories of the territory of India. These are the Territories of states, Union territories, and territories that may be acquired by the Government of India at any time. The territorial extent and the names of states and union territories are mentioned in the first schedule of the Constitution. There are presently 28 states and 8 union territories in India. The eight union territories are Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, National capital territory of Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir, and lastly Ladakh.
There are some special provisions for some states under Part XXI of the Constitution. These special provisions are applicable to the states of Goa, Manipur, Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Gujarat, Telangana, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh. There are separate provisions with respect to the administration of scheduled areas and tribal areas within the states.
Many commissions were created by the government for the linguistic reorganization of states. These commissions include Dhar Commission (1948) followed by the JVP Committee (1948) followed by Fazal Ali Commission (1953). As a result of the Fazal Ali Commission, 14 states and 6 union territories were created on 1st November 1956. Even after this large-scale reorganization of states, there occurred many more states and union territories due to political agitations and political conditions. Thus, now the political map of India consists of 28 states and 8 union territories.

Thus, option (B) is correct.

Note: Two union territories were made namely, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, as a result of the scrapping of Article 370 which divided the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into these two union territories on 31st October 2019. Article 370 provided special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.