The correct answer is (a) The Parliament.
The Parliament is the supreme legislative body of India. It is composed of the President and the two Houses of Parliament, the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States).
The power to carve out a new State is vested in the Parliament by Article 3 of the Constitution of India. Article 3 states that Parliament may by law admit into the Union any territory which was hitherto not included in the territory of India, or increase the area of any State or diminish the area of any State.
The President can only exercise this power on the recommendation of the Parliament. The Council of Ministers has no role in this matter.
The States’ Reorganisation Commission was a commission set up by the Government of India in 1953 to recommend the reorganisation of the Indian states on linguistic and administrative lines. The Commission submitted its report in 1955, and its recommendations were implemented by the Parliament through a series of Acts.
However, the States’ Reorganisation Commission did not have the power to carve out new States. This power is vested in the Parliament alone.