With the NDA government made it loud and clear on the floor of Parliament that there is no question of increasing the assembly seats in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, it is very clear that it was purely a political decision taken by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Though it was clearly mentioned in the AP Bifurcation Act 2014, that the Assembly seats in the both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh would be increased before the 2019 general elections, the NDA government said it was not possible in view of amendment of Article 170(3). It pointed out that even Union Law Ministry and Attorney General are against the move.
However, the decision more of a political than Constitutional. In fact, after the formation of Uttarakand in 2000, the Parliament immediately gave nod for the increase of the Assembly seats from five to 70.
The BJP did not have absolute majority then and was surviving on the support of the NDA partners. But now, the BJP has tremendous majority now and it doesn’t have to depend on the allies, even if they opposed, to increase the assembly seats in AP and Telangana.
If the BJP wants it, the amendment would not have been a very difficult one. But it does not want the seats to go up because it doesn’t help the party in any manner.
In the 119-member Telangana assembly, the BJP has only five MLAs and it could not find candidates to contest all the 119 seats.
If the Assembly seats rose to 153 as per the Bifurcation Act, it becomes a herculean task for the national party to field as many as candidates and get 50 per cent seats to form the government, as they are aspiring. So is the case with Andhra Pradesh.
That is why, the BJP does not want to give any advantage to the TDP and the TRS in these states, said sources.
