Andhra Pradesh govt moves High Court against SEC's decision to hold gram panchayat polls

The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday challenged the SEC's decision to hold panchayat elections and also moved a 'House Motion petition' in the High Court demanding that the poll process be stalled. This comes after the state SEC on Friday overruled the objections raised by CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led state government and announced the schedule for the gram panchayat elections which would be held in 4 phases beginning February 5. 

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Andhra poll chief announces panchayat election

State Election Commissioner Minnagadda Ramesh Kumar, with whom the Jagan-Mohan Reddy government has been engaged in a battle since March 2020, announced the schedule of panchayat election after his meeting with Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das and other top officials.  Reacting to this announcement made by the Andhra poll chief, the state government said that the schedule of gram panchayat polls was unilateral and amounted to a violation of the Supreme Court orders. 

Andhra Pradesh government said, "The SEC had adamantly announced the poll schedule without considering the state government views."

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Panchayat Raj Principal Secretary GK Dwivedi termed Andhra Pradesh government's response to SEC's announcement a 'brazen display of arrogance of power'. According to the SEC's schedule, the notification for the first phase of panchayat polls will be issued on January 23 and polling will be held on February 5. For, the second phase, the notification will be issued on January 27 and polling is scheduled on February 9. Third phase polling will be held on February 13 and the notification for the same will be issued on January 31 and the final phase will be held on February 17 and notification for it will be issued on February 4. 

Outlining further details of the panchayat election schedule, Andhra poll chief said that the model code of conduct would come into force from January 9 in accordance with the judgement of the Supreme Court. Earlier in the day, the Chief Secretary along with principal Secretaries Anil Kumar Singhal (Health) and Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, held a meeting with SEC as per the directions of the High Court.

In the meeting, the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government officials said that they were not ready to conduct the elections as the government machinery would be engaged with the administration of the Coronavirus vaccine for at least 8 months and due to this conducting an election would not be possible.

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Andhra Pradesh's resolution against holding local-body polls 

The resolution read, "While assembly recognises with respect the independence of the constitutional bodies specifically conferred with powers, it notes that unilateral decisions without considering bonafide concerns of the government would be inconsistent with the constitutional scheme."

Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly had passed this resolution by suggesting that the current COVID-19 situation is not conducive for the state to conduct the February 2021 elections amid COVID-19 pandemic. The resolution passed by the state assembly demanded that EC should add certain legal provisions in the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act 1994 and successive rules to manage public health issues should be introduced. 

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(With PTI inputs)