Simultaneous LS, Assembly polls in AP

EC is mandated to hold polls to Assembly whose term ends on June 1

• Digvijay says party still undecided on new CM or Prez Rule
• War room meeting with Seemandhra leaders fails to decide it
• With election code coming into force, govt may be ineffectual

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday made it clear that Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh including the Telangana region will be held along with Lok Sabha polls.

Highly-placed Commission sources said that as per law, the Commission is constitutionally mandated to hold elections to the Assembly whose term is ending on June 1. The Commission had said that there was no basis for reports that it would postpone elections in the State. The sources added that Assembly elections will be held in all the 119 constituencies in the proposed Telangana state and 175 seats in the residuary Andhra Pradesh, irrespective of what happens or does not happen regarding the division of the State. Thus, with clear indications that polls for the Lok Sabha and the State Assembly will be held simultaneously and that the schedule will be announced during the first week of March, the Congress high command is now once again in a dilemma on whether or not to have a new Chief Minister in place of Kiran Kumar Reddy who had quit following passage of the T Bill in Parliament.

Speaking to the media after a four-hour-long meeting with Seemandhra leaders in the Congress War Room on Tuesday evening, AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh said that they were examining various aspects in regard to making alternate arrangements in the State.

He said the election code would soon come into force and hence they would have to see if it would be proper to have a new Chief Minister now or go in for President’s Rule. He, however, said that the high command had made progress in regard to the issue of merger of TRS with Congress. The talks were in final stage and issues like sharing of seats were being worked out, he said. Apart from Digvijay Singh, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, Ahmed Patel and AICC treasurer Motial Vora interacted with Union Ministers Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, JD Seelam and Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy and state ministers Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Kanna Lakhsminarayana, Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, C Ramanchandraiah, Kondru Murali, Md Ahaduallah and Balaraju and PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana. However, they failed to arrive at any decision about the alternative administrative arrangements. The Central leaders are understood to have made it clear that the demand to postpone the elections for the Assembly would not be possible and practical. But it would try to expedite the process of having separate PCC presidents for both the States soon. Botcha Satyanarayana said they would get clarity on Wednesday on the next course of forming the new government in the State.

J D Seelam said he had submitted a memorandum to the representatives of the high command to take immediate measures to effectively counter the claims being made by BJP that it was they who championed and fought for the benefits for the people of Seemandhra region. He said he had suggested that since the benefits announced by the Prime Minister in Rajya Sabha pertain to 13 Ministries in the Centre, respective ministers should make a statement on the benefits and when and how they would be implemented. He said unless the people of Seemandhra were reassured on these crucial demands which involve huge funding, it would be difficult for the party to win over the people there. The meeting decided that the party should undertake a campaign to expose the TDP and the YSRCP for their double-speak on the T issue.