Hyderabad: BRS leader B Vinod Kumar emphasized that if the Indian Government had changed Section 26 of the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Act, 2014, by substituting “Subject to” with “Notwithstanding,” the number of seats in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana legislative assemblies would have grown significantly.
Vinod Kumar mentioned that the BRS Party repeatedly requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 2014 to 2019 to make this important amendment. Unfortunately, the Indian Government did not amend Section 26. “I personally introduced a Private Member’s Bill in the Lok Sabha in 2015 to address this,” Vinod stated.
These remarks came after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition related to delimitation, explaining that the process would only start after the census post-2026. Vinod commented, “I believe that if the Government had amended Section 26, the seats would have increased much earlier.” He expressed hope by adding, “2026 is approaching, and delimitation will happen soon.”
