As per the original schedule of the Election Commission of India, Telangana is expected to go to the elections to its state assembly in December, while Andhra Pradesh will witness the assembly elections in May.
But there is a possibility of both the states going for the assembly elections simultaneously sometime in January, if reports in a section of English media are to be believed.
According to these reports, the Centre is contemplating going for early elections for majority of the state assemblies along with Lok Sabha in January. The message was conveyed to both the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the reports said.
While it doesn’t make much difference for Telangana chief minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao, for YSRC chief and Andhra chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, it is a sort of early elections, at least four months ahead of schedule.
“There will be some clarity on this issue after the completion of the special session of Parliament to be held from September 18 to 22. If there is a consensus on the one-nation-one-poll proposal, the Centre might advance the Lok Sabha elections, which will be held along with the assembly elections to at least 13 states,” the reports said.
So, along with the Centre, some of the states that would go to elections are: Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
Reports from Delhi said though the proposal is for one-nation-one-election, it may not be possible to hold the elections to all the assemblies at a time. So, in the first phase, there would be elections to half of the states and for the other half, elections would be held in 2025.
“Gradually, the gap between the two phases will be reduced and by 2029, there would be simultaneous polls to all the states and Lok Sabha together,” sources said.
For the first phase, if the elections have to be held in January, then the election schedule would be announced in November and the nomination process has to begin in December.
“So, there is hardly anytime left for YSRC president Jagan and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu to make the preparations for the elections. They will have to hurry up from now,” sources added.