While some incidents like the Bhopal gas tragedy may have tarnished Madhya Pradeshs image with changing times Madhya Pradesh has proven itself once again. There was a time when the choice of Madhya Pradeshs capital was a source of considerable controversy. When Bhopal was made the capital, Jabalpur even skipped Diwali in protest. When India gained independence on August 15, 1947 a dispute arose over the reorganization of states. One group wanted the creation of states based on linguistic lines. Another group held a completely opposite opinion believing that this would increase discrimination. However six years later the States Reorganization Commission was established to reorganize provinces along linguistic lines. The present-day Madhya Pradesh was divided into the states of Madhya Pradesh Madhya Bharat Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal. Nagpur was the capital of Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Bharat had two capitals Gwalior the winter capital, and Indore the summer capital. Rewa was the capital of Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal was the capital of Bhopal State. As we mentioned the present-day state of Madhya Pradesh was formed by merging Central Province, Madhya Bharat Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal State. On October when the States Reorganization Commission presented its report to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru it included a proposal for the creation of Madhya Pradesh. The first session of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly began on December 17, 1956. The Assembly consisted of 328 members, including women. These included from Madhya Pradesh from Madhya Bharat, 60 from Vindhya Pradesh, and from Bhopal. When members were being sworn into the new Assembly many protested. They argued that when members had already taken the oath in their native states what was the point of administering the oath again? Madhya Pradesh had been formed by combining several different regions, but now the problem was which would be the capital. There were many contenders but only one had to be chosen. Gwalior and Indore were the first to stake their claim. Raipur was also a prestigious city. Jabalpur also put itself forward. The State Reorganization Commission had proposed Jabalpur as the capital. Therefore Jabalpur's case was considered almost certain.