Appointed Day: T-state to Come into Being on June 2

Speculation rife over delay in Assembly elections; Seemandhra leaders hope to resurrect party

It is now official. Telangana and residuary state of Andhra Pradesh will come into being on June 2.

The Appointed Day--June 2--has been been officially announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs late on Tuesday night. From the Appointed Day, Telangana will become the 29th state of the Indian Union.

The gazette notification of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, was issued on March 1, after the President gave his assent to the bill passed by both the Houses of Parliament.

The fixing of the Appointed Day hours before the Election Commission (EC) is set to announce the poll schedule gave rise to speculation that Parliament and Assembly elections could be delinked. One reason being cited for the postponement of Assembly elections is the need to carry out delimitation of Bhadrachalam constituency in the light of the inclusion of villages from Telangana in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh.

The announcement of the Appointed Day for the creation of Telangana state came after a day which saw hectic lobbying by Seemandhra leaders for the postponement of Assembly elections in the state.

The leaders’ move gains significance, particularly in the context of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) refusing to merge with the Congress and the view amongst Seemandhra leaders that they still have the capacity to resurrect the party in their region if the polls are delayed.

Quite a few senior Congress leaders met AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh ahead of the latter’s meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday evening and made a forceful plea for deferring the Assembly elections.

Though the EC is expected to announce the dates for elections on Wednesday, a modification in the schedule, if necessary, is very much possible before it is officially notified. Digvijaya Singh reportedly discussed with Sonia the twin issues of postponing the elections and creation of two Pradesh Congress Committees (PCC) for Telangana and residuary AP on Tuesday.

Kiran to Move SC Today against Division

Hyderabad: Former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is likely to move the Supreme Court on Wednesday against bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Kiran Reddy, in his petition, will contend that without amending Article 371 D, which safeguards the rights of local people in employment and education, the state cannot be divided. He will also refer to keeping Hyderabad as joint capital for both Telangana and Andhra states and argue that unless an amendment to the Constitution is made, it cannot be done. “Kiran Kumar Reddy has cleared the petition and sent it to Delhi to be filed in the Supreme Court tomorrow,” former minister Pithani Satyanarayana told Express on Tuesday.

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