The number of Assembly seats in Telangana is not likely to go up from 119 to 153 as envisaged by the State bifurcation law before next elections, according to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
He said he got wind that the seats were unlikely to go up after meeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during his last visit to New Delhi. The blame for this must go to former Union Minister of Congress Jairam Ramesh who was involved in the drafting of the Bill. Mr. Ramesh had mischievously used the word “withstanding” instead of “notwithstanding” at a crucial place in the text of the Bill which made the difference, Mr. Rao told a press conference on Wednesday.
He said the TRS had nothing to lose from the seats not going up because higher seats will help stem political instability in smaller States. But, there was no such instability in Telangana as TRS had a comfortable majority
He expected a headway in hike of reservations for tribals and Muslim minorities as enacted by the State legislature in 10 to 15 days. The matter was expected to be thrashed out when he meets Mr. Modi during his visit to New Delhi for the swearing-in of Vice-President on August 11 as both had agreed to discuss the issue at their last meeting.
He said he will urge Mr. Modi either to accept or reject the Bill to pave way for the government’s next step.
If it was rejected, the government will extend hiked reservations on the basis of an executive order and carry out a legal battle that resulted from it. The reservations for Muslims will not be on religious basis but on their economic backwardness.
Mr. Rao hoped Mr. Modi to accept the Bill because the latter had at a rally in Odisha called for considering the backwardness of Muslims. In Gujarat, the home State of Mr. Modi, the Muslim population was eight per cent which the Prime Minister could not ignore.
He also hoped that the State government will implement enhanced reservations because the Supreme Court had allowed a similar concession to Tamil Nadu pending a final judgment. It was on the same premise that the Telangana government enacted the legislation.
Answering a question on the relationship of TRS with BJP, Mr. Rao said the TRS extended issue-based support to the BJP at the Centre. The TRS was not part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The party believed in functional relationship with the Centre in tune with the federal character of the country. The TRS was “100 per cent” secular as it was committed to a plural society.
To another question on the struggle for Gorkhaland in the backdrop of the successful movement for statehood led by him, Mr. Rao stressed the need to support the efforts of West Bengal and Central governments because Gorkhaland was on international border where China created problems for the country. They made the north-eastern States vulnerable to Chinese attacks.