Hyderabad: The Centre on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that it was not going to increase the number of Assembly seats in the two Telugu states before 2026.
In a written reply to a question by Telugu Desam member T.G. Venkatesh, minister of state for home affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said it was not possible to increase the number of Assembly seats in TS and AP as stated in Section 26 of AP Reorganisation Act, until an amendment to Article 170 (3) of the Constitution was in place.
He said this particular article prohibits fresh delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies till 2026. The last time delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies took place was in 2009.
However both the Chief Ministers, K. Chandrasekhar and N. Chandrababu Naidu, have been openly saying that they have got assurance from the Centre to take up a fresh delimitation exercise for increasing Assembly seats as per Section 26 of AP Reorganisation Act.
They are also saying that the Centre promised to bring an amendment to AP Reorganisation Act by putting words like “notwithstanding anything contained in Article 170 (3) of Constitution, delimitation shall take place for both the states.”
Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu also recently said that the Centre was taking steps to bring an amendment to the Act for increasing the number of Assembly seats in the two Telugu states.
Sources in TRS and TD say the Centre has already prepared the draft for bringing the amendment to the Act and it is most likely to be introduced in the next Budget Session of Parliament.
However, Mr Ahir went ahead in his reply with the available information.
It is a known fact that both the Chief Ministers have encouraged large-scale defection of Opposition MLAs in their respective states. They have assured both the newcomers and old timers of the party that everybody will be accommodated in the next elections as Assembly seats were going to be increased.
