Andhra Pradesh to have polls as undivided unit

Elections will be held in a united Andhra Pradesh, but on June 2, two separate governments will be formed in Telangana and Seema-Andhra. Vicky Nanjappa reports

The elections dates for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls have been announced and Andhra Pradesh will technically vote as a united state on April 30 and May 7. Voting in the Telangana region will be held on April 30, while in Seema-Andhra the date has been fixed for May 7.

This would mean that the elections are held in a united Andhra Pradesh, but on June 2 two separate governments will be formed at Telangana and Seema-Andhra.

According to Chief Election Commissioner, V S Sampath, whoever is elected member of legislative assembly as per law will automatically become legislators of the concerned state. 

"If an MLA is elected to any constituency which is part of undivided Andhra Pradesh today, the moment a new state is created, if he is part of Telangana, automatically he/she will become member of the Telangana legislative assembly," Sampath said.On June 2nd, Telangana officially becomes India’s 29th state.

On the same day, the government will also be formed in Telangana, as well as Seema-Andhra. On May 16 the results will be out and it would become clear as to who would form the government in both the regions. The Union government had on Tuesday fixed June 2 as the appointment date for Telangana.

There are 42 parliamentary and 294 assembly seats in united Andhra Pradesh. In Telangana alone, there are 119 assembly seats and 17 parliamentary seats, whereas in Seema-Andhra the number is 25 for Lok Sabha and 175 for assembly. Those candidates who are elected from the respective regions will officially be bifurcated on June 2 and the party with the most seats will form the government.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi had however expressed its reservations of having elections in a united Andhra Pradesh. It felt that the real joy would have been having it after the state was bifurcated as it would have been a complete process.

The TRS feels that they could have waited for the state to be bifurcated and then have had the elections -- then, it would have been delayed only by a month. The Congress however favoured an early election as it felt that it should capitalise on the sentiment of the people.

Public memory is short and if the elections are delayed then the people could forget about the Telangana issue and the very fact that it was the Congress which initiated the process.

Image: Telangana supporters cheer as they celebrate after the announcement of the separate state of Telangana at their party headquarters in Hyderabad on July 30, 2013. Photograph: Reuters