(b) Andhra Pradesh is the first state to have been formed on linguistic basis to safeguard the rights of the Telugu people of Madras state. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer. After the creation of Andhra Pradesh, the Fazl Ali Commission (1953) was formed under the chairmanship of Fazl Ali. The Commission's recommendations were focused on the reorganisation of the state on the basis of linguistic criteria. The state, Andhra Pradesh was formed on 1st November, 1956. It is the seventh largest state in India. The official language of Andhra Pradesh is Telegu. It borders Odisha to the North-East, Telangana to the North-West, Karnataka to the West, Chhattisgarh to the North, Bay of Bengal to the East and Tamil Nadu to the South.