On November 1, 2000, chief minister Digvijay Singh divided Madhya Pradesh into two parts, creating Chhattisgarh as a new state. At that time, there were 45 districts left in MP.

Figure 1: Map of Central India (1941). Map created by Kriti Bhargava, ... Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal came to be consolidated into the now, mammoth state of Madhya Pradesh.