Chhattisgarh was born on November 1, 2000. Madhya Pradesh was bifurcated into two states -- Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh on the same day.

Demand for a separate Chhattisgarh state was first raised in the early twenties. Similar demands kept cropping up at regular intervals. Several efforts were made by individuals and organisations towards highlighting the Chhattisgarh identity.

A demand for separate Chhattisgarh was raised in 1924 by the Raipur Congress unit and was also later discussed in the annual session of the Indian Congress at Tripuri.

In 1955, a demand for a separate state was raised in the Nagpur assembly of the then state of Madhya Bharat. When the State Reorganisation Commission was set up in 1954, the demand for a separate Chhattisgarh was put forward to it but this demand was not accepted. It was reported that the State Reorganisation Commission rejected the demand for Chhattisgarh on the grounds that the prosperity of Chhattisgarh would compensate for the poverty of other regions of Madhya Pradesh.

The eighties were a comparatively quiet phase in the demand for Chhattisgarh. However, 1990's saw more activity for the creation of a new state.

Late Chadulal Chadrakar formed a political forum known as Chhattisgarh Rajya Nirman Manch. This forum successfully organised region-wide bandhs and rallies, which were supported by major political parties including the Congress and the BJP.

The Congress Government of Madhya Pradesh took the first institutional and legislative initiative for the creation of Chhattisgarh. On March 18, 1994, a resolution demanding a separate Chhattisgarh was tabled and unanimously approved by the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha.

In 1998, the BJP led Union government drafted a bill for the creation of a separate state of Chhattisgarh from sixteen districts of Madhya Pradesh. This draft bill was sent to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly for approval. It was unanimously approved in 1998, although with certain modifications.

 Later the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government sent the redrafted Separate Chhattisgarh Bill for the approval of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, where it was once again unanimously approved and then it was tabled in the Lok Sabha.