Separate Polls in Telangana and AP under One CEO

VV Balakrishna - HYDERABAD 

Published: 22nd February 2014 09:12 AM

Last Updated: 22nd February 2014 11:17 AM

Election notification for Assembly and Lok Sabha will be issued separately for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states.
“However, there will be no separate Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) for the two states. At this point of time, appointing a second CEO is not possible. The present CEO will conduct elections in both the states,” sources in Chief Electoral Office (CEO) said.
The officials attached to the office of the  Chief Electoral Officer here were of the opinion that President Pranab Mukherjee would soon endorse the AP Reorganisation Bill, 2013 which was passed in both Houses of Parliament. “We are expecting that the Gazette notification dividing the state will be issued by Monday,” they said.
Once the gazette notification was issued by the President for a separate Telangana, the elections would be held for two states. “There is no possibility of conducting elections in a unified state,” the sources confirmed.
There would be no problem in conducting the elections with one CEO, the officials said.
All the Assembly and Lok Sabha segments were clearly demarcated with boundaries  and there would be no problem in conducting elections in the two separate states.
There was some confusion before 2008. But, after the delimitation of Assembly and  Lok Sabha segments in 2008, the jurisdictions of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats were in the respective regions only. For example, Bhadrachalam Lok Sabha segment was spread in four districts before 2008, which covered both the Andhra and Telangana regions. Now, there was no such problem.
“There is no overlapping with respect to the Assembly segments. All are separated as per the regions,” the officials said and added that Assembly segment and village-wise data are available.
CEO Bhanwarlal attended a preliminary meeting with Chief Election Commissioner two days back in Delhi. Once the gazette notification was issued, the Commissioner would consult the Union law ministry and issue separate notifications, the officials said. Bhanwarlal may attend another meeting for the conduct of elections in two states some time in March, sources said.

State Legislators To Get Printers as Parting Gifts

V V Balakrishna

Kiran govt gifted tablets and iPhones to MLAs and MLCs in the last budget session.
It is a windfall for the outgoing MLAs in the state. All the MLAs and MLCs will get HP 1218 Hotspot Laser jet Pro M1218nfs (MFP) (B4K88A) printers.
The printer to be distributed to MLAs and MLCs will have features like - print from anywhere in your office with a full-featured, wireless MFP, easy copy, scan, fax, and share resources - and connect PCs and mobile devices to the internet with the built-in wireless hotspot. Plug and print with HP Smart Install. The printers will be useful for everyday office printing, copying, scanning, and faxing, plus wireless printing, internet access for PCs and mobile devices.
Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy himself decided to gift the printer to MLCs and outgoing MLAs. Kiran Reddy wrote a letter to the finance department on February 12  to purchase and give the printers to legislators. Accordingly, the finance department will procure 400 pieces of Sony J20236 All in One 400 Hotspot HP LJPRO M1218 NFS for the use of legislators.
Orders to this effect were issued by the finance department on Friday. The orders said that the finance minister has requested to arrange to procure the printers for distribution to the legislators of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Council during the Budget Session 2014-15 for facilitating their work environment with all the ongoing programmes of State government.
The finance department accorded administrative sanction for the same on Friday, in relaxation of procurement rules and methods. The chief minister requested for the procurement of printers one day ahead of the last day of the state Assembly. The Assembly session concluded on Thursday and the finance department accorded administrative sanction on Friday.
Elections were due in three months and it is not known how the printers will help MLAs in these three months to facilitate their work environment with government programmes.Kiran Reddy’s government gifted MLAs and MLCs a tablet and iPhone each on the last day of the budget session in 2013.
Hotspot Laser Jet Printers
■ These printers will have features like MFP,  easy copy, scan, fax and share resources and will be useful for everyday office printing.
■ Finance department to procure 400 pieces each costing `17,000

No Winners or Losers:KCR

By Express News Service - HYDERABAD

Published: 21st February 2014 10:25 AM

Last Updated: 21st February 2014 10:26 AM

“Today is a red letter day in the history of Telangana. I am very happy that separate Telangana is a reality today. The friction and arguments are over now. Let, the Telugus in both the states move forward for development and flourish together,” said Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrasekhara Rao.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Thursday after the Rajya Sabha passed the T-bill, an elated Rao thanked AICC president Sonia Gandhi for delivering T but did not take any questions from media persons. “My heartfelt thanks to Soniaji,” he said.
KCR sought to stress the point that there were no winners or losers in  this issue. “Let us all live together happily. Those from Seemandhra who are living in Hyderabad are now part of Telangana. They need not worry about anything,” he said.
Praising Sonia Gandhi for her determination to carve oot Telangana, he said that without her firm resolve, T would not have been a reality today. He requested the reporters not to ask him any questions since he probably had thought they might revolve around merger of his party with the Congress.
“Today is a memorable day and it should be written in golden words in the history of Telangana. Despite hurdles and problems, Sonia Gandhi stood in favour of T. I thank her on behalf of the four crore Telangana people,” Rao said.
He also thanked prime minister Manmohan Singh, home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, BJP president Rajnath Singh and opposition leaders in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitely.
“This is the victory of TRS workers. Whenever I gave a call for padayatra or rally, the workers responded in a big way. MPs, MLAs and MLCs resigned whenever I wanted them to. They threw the resignation letters in support of T without caring for posts. I thank all of them.”
Rao further stated that formation of T-state should not be construed as a victory for some and defeat for others. “Telangana people achieved their dream of self-governance,” he said.
Like a statesman, he said: “People, leaders and employees of both Seemandhra and Telangana argued with each other in the past. There were differences. But we should forget the bad and the good of the past. Let us develop together and prove to the country that Telugus could live peacefully in two separate states.”
He also said that all those Seemandhra people settled in Hyderabad and elsewhere in Telangana region were considered to be part of Telangana. “All Seemandhra people can live peacefully in Hyderabad. We have no bad idea about them,” Rao said.
RECONSTRUCTION: Rao said that the focus of TRS would be on reconstruction of Telangana. “I will see that Hyderabad will get international city status. ITIR project was sanctioned, which can provide jobs to the youth. There will be a shortage of power for Telangana. There is a lot of agenda before us. I will discuss the development and political issues later.”
Rao said he would stay in Delhi for two or three days more to meet Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee and other constitutional heads for their cooperation for creation of Telangana.