Andhra HC gives green signal for Panchayat polls; Jaganmohan govt approaches SC

In a setback for the Jaganmohan Reddy government, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has on Thursday set aside the interim orders of a single judge that suspended the Panchayat polls notification in the state.

The YSRCP government has reportedly challenged the high court order in the Supreme Court, stating that the conduct of polls during the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination programme would be impractical.

The ruling side in AP and the Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar headed State Election Commission are at loggerheads since last March over the timing of the local body polls in the state.

When Reddy was keen on the polls last year, Kumar postponed the same citing the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

Now, when Reddy's YSRCP wants the polls postponed, the SEC has on January 8 issued a notification scheduling the Panchayat polls across the state in four phases on February 5, 9, 13 and 17. The order came hours after the state chief secretary Aditya Nath Das met Kumar, urging him to withhold such plans in the pandemic situation and as the vaccination programme is about to commence.

On January 11, a single judge court has suspended the notification. The interim orders were challenged by the SEC before the division bench, which heard the arguments of the commission that conducts the local body polls and the state government that has to provide the required support.

On Thursday, the bench comprising chief justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Praveen Kumar delivered its verdict and opined that “both election and vaccination programmes being of vital importance for the people, the parties will make all endeavour to ensure that both the programmes are conducted smoothly and successfully".

Post the order, SEC Kumar issued a statement saying that “the government had already submitted an undertaking to the court, that they shall do everything possible for holding Gram Panchayat elections and shall not seek a change of dates".

“The SEC accordingly is going ahead with the elections as per the already notified programme,” Kumar said.

The opposition TDP says that Reddy is avoiding the polls now “as Kumar would not let the party in power influence the outcome".

Miffed by Kumar's move postponing the Panchayat and municipal polls originally planned in March 2020, the Reddy government went to the extent of removing him from his office by curtailing the SEC tenure from five to three years, through an ordinance in April.

CM Reddy had then accused Kumar of operating in a partisan, unilateral manner and even attributed a caste-based bias. Kumar became the SEC during the tenure of Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

After a legal battle, Kumar was later reinstated by the high court.