Lottery system of choosing RS members from AP, Telangana may be changed

The lottery procedure to decide on the state of the members was to take place yesterday but it did not happen.

“There are several issues like what will happen to the MPLAD funds. If a Seemandhra leader becomes a Telangana MP, he cannot spend his funds on his local area,” a source in the government said.

“The previous government has not applied its mind on this,” the source added.

To address this issue, the government has begun inter-ministerial consultations, the sources said, expressing confidence that a solution would be found to it.

The move comes amid opposition from some sitting RS members of the undivided state as they fear that lawmaker from one region will land up being a member of the other state.

A couple of days ago, the Election Commission said in a statement that holding of the bypoll to fill up the vacancy of late N Janardhana Reddy from Andhra Pradesh will be considered after the Rajya Sabha Chairman decides as to which state—Telangana or Andhra Pradesh—the vacancy pertains according to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.