The Central government had once again made its mind clear on increasing the number of Assembly seats in the Telugu States. The increase may not be possible even for the 2029 general elections to the State Assemblies.

This was made clear in Rajya Sabha by Union Minister of State for Home, Nityananda Rai, on Wednesday that increase of the Assembly seats is not possible without amending Article 170 of the constitution.

He was replying to a question raised by BJP MP, G V L Narasimha Rao, who wanted to know whether there was any plan with the Central government to increase the Assembly seats as per the AP Reorganisation Act 2014.

The MP said that Section 26 (1) of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014 had proposed an increase of Assembly seats in the Telugu states after bifurcation. The Act proposed to increase the Assembly seats in Telangana from 119 to 153 and in Andhra Pradesh from 175 to 225.

The Union Minister told Rajya Sabha that though the AP Reorganisation Act 2014 proposed the increase of the Assembly seats, it is not possible without amending Article 170 of the constitution. He said that Article 170 could be amended only after the national census is carried out.

This time, the Central government did not conduct the census as per the schedule in 2021 due to Covid 19 pandemic. The government had proposed to take up the census in the year 2026. Hence, the amendment to the Constitution is also not possible before the completion of the census, which might take at least two years.

Thus, the Telugu States are missing the increase of the Assembly seats for the two consecutive elections after bifurcation.