The recent Supreme Court verdict has dashed the hopes of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh regarding an early increase in their Legislative Assembly seats as promised in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. As per the Act, Andhra Pradesh’s seats were to increase from 175 to 225 and Telangana’s from 119 to 153. However, this delimitation process was stalled due to the non-conduct of the 2021 Census, primarily because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other delays. Telangana has repeatedly requested the Centre to initiate the delimitation process, citing the legal mandate of the Reorganisation Act. But the Union Home Ministry did not act on the demand.
In a petition filed in the Supreme Court by Professor K. Purushottam Reddy, a plea was made for early delimitation, pointing to the recent exercise conducted in Jammu and Kashmir as a precedent. However, the Supreme Court rejected the petition, clarifying that Article 170 of the Constitution mandates that no delimitation in states can occur until after the first Census post-2026. The Court observed that Article 170(3) provides a constitutional embargo on such exercises until the Census is completed and published, thereby aligning with the original constitutional design.
The judgment emphasized that Jammu and Kashmir is a Union Territory and governed under a distinct legal regime, making the earlier delimitation exercise there legally distinct from that of states like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Court maintained that granting any relief would violate the Constitution and that the Centre had not discriminated against the electorate of these two states.
The next Census, scheduled to begin in 2026, will be conducted in two phases and is expected to be completed by March 2027. Only after its publication can the Delimitation Commission begin its work, which may push the actual increase in Assembly seats further into the next decade. While the verdict may have disappointed both states, it is seen as a predictable outcome based on the constitutional framework. Critics, such as former MP B. Vinod Kumar, pointed out that if Section 26 of the 2014 Act had explicitly overridden Article 170, this issue might have been resolved much earlier. However, the lack of such foresight during the drafting of the Act now binds both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to the nationwide schedule for delimitation.
