The Election Commission on Thursday decided to postpone the biennial poll to fill nine vacancies in the legislative councils of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The terms of office of three members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council and six members of Telangana Legislative Council will end on May 31 and June 3 respectively.
As per the provisions of Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the seats of State Legislative Council, which are going to fall vacant are required to be filled up by holding biennial elections before the expiration of the term of sitting members.
The EC on Thursday decided that due to the second wave of the Covid-19 in the country, it would not be appropriate to hold these elections till the pandemic situation significantly improves and conditions become conducive for polls, a spokesperson of the commission stated.
The poll panel stated that it would take a decision on holding the elections at an appropriate time in the future after taking inputs from the concerned states and assessing the pandemic situation from mandated authorities like National Disaster Management Authority and the State Disaster Management Authorities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
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