Legislative Council in danger due to reduced Assembly strength: Vinod Kumar
The Hindu
Legislative Council in danger due to reduced Assembly strength: Vinod Kumar
Senior BRS leader and former MP B. Vinod Kumar said that the existence of the Legislative Council in Telangana is in danger following the decline in Assembly strength from 120 to 119 after the 104th amendment to the Constitution, under which the representation of the Anglo-Indian community is done away with since last December.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, he said that as per Article 171 of the Constitution, the strength of the Legislative Council in Telangana should not be less than 40, which again is arrived at from the strength of the Assembly – one-third of the total. The total strength of the Assembly was 120 till December (first two Assemblies of Telangana) including 119 elected and one nominated (Anglo-Indian) member.
However, the BJP Government at the Centre amended the Constitution in December 2019 (104th amendment), which came into force in January 2020 doing away with the nomination of Anglo-Indian members in the Assemblies and Lok Sabha. It allowed the nominated members who were in office then to complete their term, he explained.
With the completion of term of the second Assembly in Telangana, including that of the nominated Anglo-Indian member in December 2023, its total strength had come down to 119 from 120. Now that the total strength had come down, the Council could not have the strength of 40 and it should be 39, Mr. Vinod Kumar said.
As the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are scheduled to meet on Saturday, and since they have a long association, they can press for an increase in the number of Assembly seats in both States, which was provisioned under Section 26 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, he said.
AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu being in a position to get things done should pressurise the Centre for it and such a move would allow the Telangana Council to survive, he added.
He stated that the previous BRS government requested the Prime Minister and Union Law Minister several times to increase (reorganise) the Assembly seats but the Centre avoided it though it had increased the seats in Jammu & Kashmir Assembly.