Two Lok Sabha MPs and three MLAs of the yet to be born Telangana State might have to represent two States - Telangana and Andhra Pradesh - in the Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly if the Election Commission does not carry out delimitation exercise before the appointed day of the creation of Telangana State.
This is because 136 villages with a population of 60,000 people will remain in residual Andhra Pradesh as per the AP Reorganisation Bill though they come under the Lok Sabha/ Andhra Pradesh Assembly constituencies of Telangana region.
To avoid such confusion, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Vice-Chairman Marri Sasidhar Reddy has suggested that the “appointed day” should be fixed after the poll and the election held for unified Andhra Pradesh, consisting of 294 Assembly constituencies and 42 Lok Sabha segments. The government could also consider amending Article 170 of the Constitution as there is a ban on taking up delimitation of constituencies on the basis of geographical areas, or increasing or altering the number of constituencies of the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly.
Talking to The Hindu here, Mr. Reddy, who is also the Congress MLA of Sanatnagar in Hyderabad, pointed out that, according to the Telangana Bill, those 136 villages would become part of residual Andhra Pradesh though they come under two Lok Sabha (Mahabubabad and Khammam) and three Assembly (Pinapaka, Aswaraopeta and Bhadrachalam) constituencies of Telangana State. These villages were assigned to Andhra Pradesh following pressure from Seemandhra leaders who feared the Polavaram Project would hit a road block if the villages continued to be in Telangana State.
Mr. Reddy, who is also the son of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Marri Channa Reddy, said the central government should take all factors into account before notifying the appointed day to avoid any confusion. Otherwise the elected representatives might be representing two States in LS and Assembly at the same time.
Meanwhile, former All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary P. Sudhakar Reddy has urged the Centre not to delay the “appointed day” for the new State as people were eagerly awaiting the notification. The ensuing poll would give an opportunity for the people of Telangana to give a fitting reply to the “backstabbing” carried out by the leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), YSR Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when the Telangana Bill was being considered in Parliament, he said.
