The Andhra Pradesh government has informed the Election Commission of India that Bhadrachalam mandal except for Bhadrachalam revenue village has been included in the Rampachodavaram Revenue Division of East Godavari district.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer, in a communication to the ECI Principal Secretary Sumit Mukherjee, gave detailed reply to the clarifications sought by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs which said there was no clarity about the placement of several villages in seven mandals that were transferred to the successor State of Andhra Pradesh post bifurcation.
The Election Commission dealing with the proposed increase in Legislative Assembly seats in Telangana (from 119 to 153) and Andhra Pradesh (from 175 to 225) said some discrepancies have been noticed in the extent of the Assembly constituencies on the borders of Khammam in Telangana and East and West Godavari districts of AP.
Replying to the queries, the AP government said Nellipaka mandal in Khammam district of Telangana which was merged with Andhra Pradesh has subsequently been renamed as Yetpaka and hence, did not figure in the list of the affected constituencies as sought by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
The six villages - Sitharamanagaram, Sridharavelair, Gumpanapally, Ganapavaram, Ibrahimpet and Ravigudem - which were excluded from the Pinapaka (ST) Assembly constituency of Telangana had been included in Kukunoor mandal of Jangareddygudem revenue division of West Godavari district.
“Hence, these villages have not been shown separately and Kukunoor mandal has been included in the Polavaram (ST) constituency of AP,” the clarification said.
The CEO said Bhadrachalam revenue mandal, Kunavaram, Chintoor, Vararamachandrapuram and Nellipaka (Yetpaka) mandals formed part of the Rampachodavaram constituency and Kukunur and Velairpadu mandals were placed in the jurisdiction of Polavaram constituency.
The Chief Electoral Officer requested the authorities concerned to ensure the change in name of Nellipaka mandal and inclusion of other villages in the two constituencies are reflected in the second schedule of the AP Reorganisation Act.
The Telangana Chief Electoral Officer, is however, yet to submit his version on the clarifications sought by the Election Commisison.
