Andhra will lose its clout in LS
The Opposition is deliberately disrupting Parliament
The strength of Andhra Pradesh in the Lok Sabha will come down to Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu once the new state of Telangana is created.
The united Andhra Pradesh was the strongest state in south with 42 members in the Lower House. But it would lose its bargaining power and will not be able to play a bigger role at the national level. It will now have 25 members in the Lok Sabha and it may come down if a group of ministers decides to include two more districts — Karnool and Aanantpur (Rayalaseema) — in Telangana state.
While the strength of Gujarat in the Lok Sabha is 26, Karnatka has 28 members and Madhya Pradesh is 29. Tamil Nadu has emerged as the biggest state in the south with 39 members in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress party once opposed to smaller states saying that “small states, strong Centre has been the RSS thinking.” But with the coalition era settling in states and at the Centre, the party has realised that it cannot stop the demand of smaller states.
This is because non-BJP parties opposing the RSS ideology too has been pressing for splitting bigger states. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly has already passed a resolution of splitting the state four way when Ms Mayawati was the chief minister.
On Wednesday, senior Congress leader and the sitting Lok Sabha member Jagdambika Pal demanded a new Purvanchal state by bifurcating Uttar Pradesh.
“I will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi with this plea,” Mr Pal said.
The non-BJP parties, like the CPI, JD(U), RLD and RJD, are not against the creation of smaller states.
The Congress, which has been out of power in UP for more than two decades, came to power in Uttarak-hand, once part of united UP, only after split.
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