Andhra Pradesh voters still on Telangana electoral list
Hyderabad: Residents of the seven mandals of Telangana state that were merged with AP continue to be voters in three Assembly and two Lok Sabha constituencies of Telangana state. If the transfer of votes is not done, it will be in violation of Article 170 of the Constitution.
Congress leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy in a letter to the Election Commission said: “The people residing in the seven mandals, now in AP, comprised electors in three Assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha constituencies of Telangana during the 2014 elections. The transfer of these areas took place after the elections. Even though they voted for Telangana MLAs and MPs, they are now in Andhra Pradesh. This is an anomaly that needs to be corrected immediately so that elections could be conducted in a proper manner.”
He added, “It is contradicting the provisions of the Article 170 of the Constitution of India as amended by the 84th and 87th amendments. As per the constitutional provision there cannot be (i) any increase in the number of constituencies or (ii) in their extent till after the first census after the year 2026”. The issue has been raised several times in the past in the state Assembly but was brushed aside.