The NDA government at the Centre headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have poured water over the hopes of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for an increase in the number of assembly seats by next assembly elections.
The Centre is learnt to have conveyed to the two Telugu states that delimitation and seat expansion will be undertaken only after the completion of the next population census.
As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Andhra Pradesh is eligible for an increase of up to 50 assembly seats, while Telangana can get an additional 34 seats.
However, the Centre has now made it clear that no increase in assembly or Lok Sabha constituencies will take place before the census process is completed.
Accordingly, the upcoming assembly and parliamentary elections in both Telugu states will be conducted with the existing constituencies.
Political parties in both states are now recalibrating their strategies in line with this decision.
The Centre has reportedly held consultations and sought opinions before arriving at this conclusion, particularly in view of the census scheduled for 2027.
The Union Cabinet recently approved an allocation of Rs 11,718 crore for the census exercise, and the schedule was officially announced on June 4 this year.
Officials indicate that issuing the final census notification itself could take 18 months to two years, meaning final population data may be available only by mid-2028.
Following this, the delimitation exercise would take another year to 18 months, as it requires the appointment of a Delimitation Commission, statewide consultations, and issuance of a final notification.
Given this timeline, it is unlikely that new constituencies can be implemented for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. As a result, revised constituencies are now expected to come into effect only for the 2034 elections.
The Centre reiterated this position during hearings in the Supreme Court on petitions related to delimitation, informing the court that constituency reorganisation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana can only be carried out after the census.
While Section 26(1) of the AP Reorganisation Act allows Telangana’s Assembly strength to be increased from 119 to 153 and Andhra Pradesh’s from 175 to a maximum of 225, the Centre maintained that delimitation must align with constitutional provisions, including the 84th Constitutional Amendment, which froze constituency boundaries until after the census conducted post-2026.
