No increase in Assembly seats in AP, TS before '26

New Delhi: Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai said in Rajya Sabha that increase in the number of Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has to wait until after 2026 and any change now requires a Constitutional amendment.

He was replying to a question by BJP member G V L Narasimha Rao on Wednesday. Narasimha Rao sought to know from the Centre whether there would be the expected increase to the numbers of the Assembly seats in the two Telugu states, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, from the present 175 to 225 in Andhra Pradesh and from 119 to 153 in Telangana.

Political parties in these two states have been seeking a hike and more so the ruling parties, the YSRCP and the TRS, for a long time as per the provisions of Section 15 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

"Subject to the provisions contained in Article 170 of the Constitution and without prejudice to section 15 of this Act, the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the successor states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana shall be increased from 175 and 119 to 225 and 153, respectively, and delimitation of the constituencies may be determined by the Election Commission in the manner hereinafter provided...," the Act says.

As per the last provision to article 170 (3) of the Constitution, until the relevant figures of the first census taken after year 2026 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust the allocation of seats in the Legislative Assembly of each state as readjusted on the basis of the 1971 Census

It is here that the expectations of the ruling parties in particular arise. In addition, both the YSRCP and the TRS have encouraged defections from the rival parties and accommodated many of them in its echelons. This has led to much bitterness among the existing leadership which feels threatened politically. A delimitation exercise now would certainly help the ruling leadership to balance its act in ticket distribution when it faces the next elections.