‘Increase assembly seats in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh’

HYDERABAD: Telangana planning board vice chairman B Vinod Kumar urged the Centre to increase assembly seats in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and carry out the amendment to section 26 of the AP Reorganisation Act at the earliest.
In a letter to union minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, Vinod Kumar slammed the reply given by union minister Nityanand Rai in Rajya Sabha, who said it was not possible to enhance assembly seats in Telangana and AP till 2031.
The minister said unless Article 170 of the Constitution of India is amended in line with section 26 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the number of seats cannot be increased.
“The BJP government increased the assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir without amending Article 170. Then why there should be the need for an amendment to increase the number of seats in Telugu states,” Vinod Kumar asked Amit Shah. The state government has been demanding the Centre to increase the assembly seats from 119 to 153.