Hyderabad: The Centre today reiterated that the increase of Assembly seats in the two Telugu States is not possible. Despite hinting to increase in recent times, the Centre refused to increase the Assembly seats from 119 to 153 in Telangana and 175 to 225 in Andhra Pradesh, as per the bifurcation Act, followed by mounting pressure from the two governments. Increase of the Assembly seats in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation is ruled out as of now, the Centre asserted. During the parliament session that saw pandemonium as the congress, TD and other parties raised slogans on their demands of bifurcation promises, Sujana Chowdhary MP of Telugu Desam from Andhra Pradesh has urged the chair in Rajya Sabha to clarify on the issue.
Following this, the union minister of state Hansraj Gangaram in a written reply informed that there is no possibility in near future to hike the Assembly seats in the two Telugu states. According to Article 170 (3) of the Constitution, the increase of the Assembly seats will be possible in 2026 by taking into consideration the census details.
The bifurcation Act, however, clearly says that the assembly seats may be increased from 119 to 153 in Telangana and 175 to 225 in Andhra Pradesh states. To a query by TD MP K Ravindra Kumar, the centre also clarified that it has implemented all the issues in the 12th schedule of the Constitution.(NSS)
