Why May Day is celebrated as Maharashtra Day: History and interesting facts
On
this day, 58 years ago, the existing state of Maharashtra was formed.
The States Reorganization Act, 1956, defined boundaries for states
within India on the basis of languages.
The
then Bombay though had people speaking various languages like Marathi,
Gujarati, kutchi and Konkani, which obviously did not work out. So the
Sanyukt Maharastra Andolan started demanding a separate state.
The
protest continued till 1960 when the Bombay Reorganization Act was
passed by India’s Parliament to divide the multilingual state of Bombay
into Gujarat and Maharashtra, with Ahmedabad. The legislation came into
effect on May 1, 1960.
Even as the rest of the world celebrates International Worker’s Day on
May 1, Maharashtra continues to celebrate a much bigger event in its own
history. A parade is held at Shivaji Park in Mumbai where the Governor
addresses a large gathering. All offices in the state remain closed and
sale of alcohol is prohibited.
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