The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : MLA sore as Fatehnagar goes to Kukatpally

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Saturday, Sep 27, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

MLA sore as Fatehnagar goes to Kukatpally

K. Srinivas Reddy

It’s against the very spirit of delimitation, says Sanathnagar legislator M. Sashidhar Reddy

After inclusion of Fatehnagar ward, Kukatpally
will have highest number of voters in State
Sanathnagar constituency will be reduced to having the lowest number of voters in State

HYDERABAD: The delimitation of Assembly segments in the twin cities is snowballing into a major controversy over inclusion of Fatehnagar locality in the newly formed Kukatpally segment, thereby affecting the geographical contiguity of the Sanathnagar segment.

The inclusion of Fatehnagar ward in Kukatpally is also making it a constituency with highest number of voters in the State (3, 62,057 voters), while reducing Sanathnagar to having the lowest voters (1, 55,522). “The delimitation exercise was initiated to check the disparities in population in constituencies and also to ensure geographical contiguity. But the latest move goes against the very spirit of delimitation,” Sanathnagar legislator M. Sashidhar Reddy complained to the EC recently.

Sharing

Interestingly, as per the delimitation approved and notified by the Centre, Ward No. 24 (Fatehnagar) should have been shared between Kukatpally and Sanathnagar segments with a population sharing of 25,056 and 38,367 voters respectively. However, during the implementation of the delimitation, the officials concerned included the entire ward in Kukatpally segment raising the hackles of sitting legislator Mr. Reddy.

Contests claim

Hotly contesting the claim of officials that they took mandal as a unit in carving out the delimited constituencies, Mr. Reddy argued that Fatehnagar, though it fell in Balanagar mandal, was to be construed as an ‘outgrowth area’ like Osmania University and Cantonment areas and included in Hyderabad district. “The removal of Fatehnagar from my constituency is against the spirit of delimitation,” Mr. Reddy petitioned the Election Commission of India, which sought a report from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

Sliced into two

“Effectively, Sanathnagar constituency would be sliced into two parts and where are the parameters of contiguous areas and proportionate population on which the delimitation exercise was taken up?” a cut-up Mr. Reddy asked. “The current decision to include Fatehnagar in Kukatpally is against the Election Commission maps that are put on its website also.”

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