The State election authority, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, is hopeful that the Central government will issue the gazette notification relating to the status of electors in the six revenue mandals as also those in the villages of Bhadrachalam revenue mandal that have been merged with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
The revenue mandals hitherto part of the Pinapaka, Aswaraopet and Bhadrachalam constituencies have been merged into Rampachodavaram and Polavaram assembly constituencies and the CEOs of Telangana and AP submitted detailed clarifications regarding the same to the Election Commission. The reorganisation of voters’ lists was carried out after the Election Commission directed the election authorities of the two States to ensure that the names of electors of these merged mandals be removed from the rolls of Telangana and added to the respective constituencies in the neighbouring State.
The Telangana CEO’s office subsequently notified that strength of the electors in the three constituencies reserved for STs had been reduced by close to 1.4 lakh with Bhadrachalam witnessing highest decline of 91,220 votes, Aswaraopet - 37,750 votes, and Pinapaka - 11,211 votes. “The entire process has been completed, but a gazette notification has not been issued by the Union Home Ministry in consultation with the Election Commission,” a senior official said. Officials, however, asserted that given the pace at which the Election Commission is completing the required formalities after the Telangana government dissolved the Legislative Assembly, orders could be expected “any time”. The scope of taking up delimitation and changing the reservation pattern in these ST reserved constituencies is however remote as there is little time left before the formal announcement of the election schedule.