New Delhi/Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Center on a plea seeking to start the exercise of delimitation in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which would increase the number of seats in the two state assemblies.
The move by the Supreme Court created a stir in political circles in both the Telugu states as the strength of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly would be reduced from 175 to 225 and that of Telangana state from 119 to 153, if the petitioner had. With elections in Telangana state just a year away, the increase in seats will be an advantage for the TRS as it will be able to accommodate more candidates who might otherwise turn rebels if denied tickets in the current set-up.
“We are continuously demanding that the Center increase the seats. Now we will vigorously lobby for increase in seats by filing an affidavit,” senior TRS leader and former MP B Vinod Kumar told Deccan Chronicle.
Senior Congress leader Mary Sashidhar Reddy, who has been demanding an increase in seats both politically and legally, was of the view that the Center would be forced to either cancel the increase in seats in Jammu and Kashmir or two Telugu This will be allowed for the states. ,
“There will be two possibilities. First, the delimitation process in J&K should be declared in violation of constitutional and statutory provisions and elections in J&K should be on the basis of existing assembly constituencies. Second, it should be the number of seats in both the Telugu states. may pave the way for the process of increasing,” Shashidhar Reddy told Deccan Chronicle.
When contacted, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar declined to comment on the matter.
YSRC MLA and AP Planning Board vice-chairman Malladi Vishnu said the Center had already assured to increase the assembly seats as per the latest census. “Governance, administration and service to the public will be better with the increase in the number of MLA seats and MLAs can work together with the people. But there will be chances of legal hurdles if seats are increased immediately without census basis ,” He said.
YSR Congress MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy decentralized governance by forming new districts by establishing village/ward secretariats and taking administration closer to the public. “Similarly, increasing the number of assembly seats from the existing 175 to 225 will help people meet their MLAs easily. This will increase the number of assembly constituencies from the existing seven to nine in each parliamentary constituency,” he said. AP State.
When asked, YSRC’s state party joint secretary Karumuru Venkata Reddy said, “The increase in the number of MLA seats is the right of the people of Andhra Pradesh which is given in the AP Reorganization Act and if the MLA seats are increased before the elections.” Better yet. 2024.” He said that in many constituencies where the population is very high, MLAs are facing a lot of difficulties in meeting people under the Gadpa Gadpaku Mana Prabhasyam Jan Sampark program and this step will solve the problem. “Hope the Supreme Court will give an appropriate decision considering the rights of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,” he said.
Although the AP Reorganization Act provides for delimitation in two states, the Center deferred, saying another constitutional provision makes it impossible until at least 2031. But, the pitch has been queered by the Center to allow the delimitation of the Union Assembly. The region of Jammu and Kashmir.
On Monday, a bench of Supreme Court Justice KM Joseph and Justice Hrishikesh Roy issued notices to K. Tagged the petition filed by Purushottam Reddy with a pending petition on the delimitation of Jammu and Kashmir. The matter is likely to come up for hearing on September 29 when the Jammu and Kashmir delimitation matter is listed for consideration.
Advocate Rao Ranjit, appearing for Prof Reddy, submitted that Section 26 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014 was the same which specifies the delimitation relating to Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
Rao Ranjit said that the delimitation exercise is almost complete in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, but it has not started in the case of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
