ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by considering existing explanations for state creation in the Hindi heartland. It suggests that the reorganisation of the Hindi heartland reflected the gradual shifting of the tectonic plates of federal political geography in response to distinct and evolving logics of politics at different levels of the federal system since the late 1960s. The emergence of new national political formations and state-level parties was tied up with the dismantling of the era of one-party Congress dominance across the country. By looking at the deep regional politics of state reorganisation, has challenged some overly top-heavy images of Indian federalism. The chapter focuses on various periods in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh when the actions of a state leader helped to bring the borders of their state into question. It also focuses on why local leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to support calls for statehood that had been initially associated with social movements or other political parties.
