Cabinet note says AP will retain its name

Telangana will be the 29th state in the country when it is formed, and the remaining part of the state will retain the name Andhra Pradesh.

The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday had decided that the residuary state would retain its present name.

The note circulated in the Cabinet meeting has reasoned that prior to the formation of Andhra Pradesh, the region known as Telangana was part of the erstwhile state of Hyderabad. “Hence it is proposed that the new state be named Telangana,” it said.
As the united Andhra Pradesh has a bicameral system of legislature — an Assembly and a Council — the issue of Telangana having a Legislative Council has been left to the wisdom of the Assembly of the new state. The existing 90-member Council will be reconstituted and the number of seats decided later.

The existing Assembly has 295 seats, including one nominated member, out of which Telangana will take away 119 seats. The lone nominated member in the present Assembly will be part of the Telangana Assembly.

On Rajya Sabha seats, it has been decided that Telangana will have seven seats while the residuary Andhra Pradesh will have 11, while the Lok Sabha seats will be 119 and 125, and the Assembly seats will be 119 and 175, respectively.
“It is proposed that the existing high court may exercise its jurisdiction over both states until arrangements are made, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, for setting up separate high courts within respective jurisdictions of both states,” said the note.

The Cabinet decision also may give rise to a peculiar situation as current Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who is the MLA from the Madhira seat in the Khammam district of the Telangana region, can continue as the Deputy Speaker of the residuary Andhra Pradesh, if one goes by the note.

“Based on past precedent, it is proposed that the persons who immediately before the appointed day were the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly shall be the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh, and as soon as may be after the appointed day, the Assembly of Telangana shall choose its Speaker and Deputy Speaker,” read the Cabinet note.