Plan Balkan was a plan devised by

Plan Balkan, also known as the 'Dickie Bird Plan', was an early proposal by Lord Mountbatten between March and May 1947. Under this plan, power was to be transferred to individual British Indian provinces rather than a central government. It specifically proposed that the legislative assemblies of Bengal and Punjab would meet in two parts to vote on the partition of their respective provinces [1]. Jawaharlal Nehru vehemently opposed this plan, arguing it would lead to the 'Balkanisation' of India by encouraging provinces and princely states to declare independence [2]. Due to this strong opposition, Mountbatten abandoned the proposal in favor of the June 3rd Plan, which transferred power to two successor dominions, India and Pakistan, while ruling out independence for princely states to preserve unity [2].

Sources

1. [1] Introduction to the Constitution of India, D. D. Basu (26th ed.). > Chapter 2: THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION > p. 18
2. [2] Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 25: Independence with Partition > Why Congress Accepted Partition > p. 499
3. [3] History , class XII (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 8: Reconstruction of Post-colonial India > Introduction > p. 101