Andhra to vote as one state

The people of Telangana and Seemandhra are likely to vote as united Andhra for one last time in 2014. The Centre plans to delay notifying the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh until after the Election Commission announces the poll dates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Such a step would ensure a united Andhra elects its legislators along with its MPs and a possible constitutional crisis is averted.

Ministry of Home Affairs sources said the term of the current Andhra Pradesh assembly expires in mid-June warranting fresh elections. Issuing the notification regarding Andhra’s bifurcation before the announcement of Election Commission dates would have meant Seemandhra and the new state of Telangana would have needed to elect their MPs and legislators as two separate states. But neither the state EC nor the Andhra administration is prepared for such an eventuality. “Separation of the two states, revising of electoral rolls and attachment of territories could take several months,” said an official.

The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, among other things, provides for delimitation - that is redrawing - of SC and ST constituencies in the two states. The official said this delimitation, in itself, could take several months. “This would mean postponing the assembly election in the two states leading to a constitutional crisis as the current assembly’s term ends in June,” the source said.

Last week, the two houses of Parliament passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill to bifurcate the state of Andhra Pradesh and carve out the new state of Telangana. The bill now awaits the Presidential assent and a gazette notification before the new state comes into existence. Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde has said the Centre, to give further time to the two administrations, may even repeat the precedent of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand’s creation when there was a gap of three months between the date of notification and the ‘Appointed Date’ of the creation of these states. “Notifying the new state before the EC announcement will lead to a conundrum that we believe is best avoided at this time,” said an MHA source.

Sources also said the state would be put under the President’s rule soon. The next cabinet meeting on Thursday is likely to recommend imposition of the President’s rule in the state.