Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on August 5, passed a bill in the Rajya Sabha to divide the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories i.e. Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Making the official announcement in Rajya Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah added that the union territory in Ladakh will have no legislature like Chandigarh while the other union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature like Delhi and Puducherry.
“Kashmir and Jammu division will be separate Union Territory with legislature,” Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha as he announced the creation of Union Territory of Ladakh.
It should be noted that Article 370 grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and grants the power to the state legislature in defining its ‘permanent residents’ and also privileges and rights.
After this decision, Jammu and Kashmir became the first-ever Indian state to be reduced to Union Territory with former Indian Administrative Service officer Girish Murmu being swearing-in as its first Lieutenant Governor. Completely divided from the state, Ladakh also became a Union Territory with R. K. Mathur swearing in as its Lieutenant Governor.
With the new Union Territories, the new political map of India was officially released by the Government of India (GOI). With the addition of these two new UTs, India now has 28 states and 9 Union Territories.
Talking about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the phone services were restored in the valley and the Postpaid mobile phone services were restored on the BSNL network in the Kashmir Valley.