Hyderabad: The Union of India on Wednesday made it clear that there will be no enhancement in the number of Assembly seats in Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh.
In a written reply to a question by Y. Satyanarayana Chowdary @ Sujana Chowdary, a member of the Rajya Sabha, the Union minister of state for home Hansraaj Gangaram Ahir stated that the Assembly seats will be enhanced only after calculation of population in 2026.
It may be recalled that the chief ministers of Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh had appealed to the Centre to increase the number of Assembly seats in both states as prescribed in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu wants an increase of seats from 175 to 225 and Telangana state’s Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao requested an increase of seats from 119 to 153.
The Union of India had sought the opinion of the Law ministry on whether Section 26 (1) of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 could be implemented by amending Section 26, without any amendment to Article 170 of the Constitution to increase the seats.
The Attorney General opined that unless and until Article 170 of the Constitution is amended to bring it in line with Section 26 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, there can be no increase in the number of seats of the assemblies of the two states.
