India from midnight of 30 October have 28 states & 9 Union territories

October 31: After the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir ceased to be a state from Wednesday midnight. Jammu and Kashmir has been bifurcated into two Union territories of (1) Jammu & Kashmir and (2) Ladakh.

Before 5 August, 2019, India had 29 states and seven Union Territories. The Lok Sabha, on 6 August, 2019, passed a resolution to revoke Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill with 370 votes for and 70 against came into existence.

This is for the first time that a state in India is converted into two Union territories. The total number of states in the country will now be 28, while the total UTs will go up to nine. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, states that the appointed day for the two Union territories is 31 October and these will come into existence in the midnight (Wednesday-Thursday).

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature like Puducherry while Ladakh will be a Union Territory without legislature like Chandigarh and both the Union Territories will be headed by two separate Lieutenant Governors (LG), as per the Act.

Until now, there used to be 22 Districts in Kashmir. They were divided as Jammu (10), Kashmir (10) and Ladakh (10) regions. With the latest move, Ladakh region comprising of Leh and Kargil got recognised as a Union Territory. Jammu & Kashmir having 20 districts will be Union Territory with legislature.