The Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission (SEC) today issued a notification asking the relevant officials to hold the first phase of the Panchayat elections in the state amidst its ongoing legal battle with the state government, which has been trying to stay the elections for some time now.
The conflict reached a high with SEC Commissioner Ramesh Kumar releasing the notification at his office.
Speaking on the occasion, he made it clear that the commission would abide by the verdict of the Supreme Court of India, which would hear the case on the matter on January 25.
The SEC had recently been given the
green signal for the commencement of the rural body elections by the AP High Court.
He said that the elections would be held across the revenue divisions in the state in a phased manner.
"The elections will be held in four phases. The first phase of the elections will be held in all the districts except Vizianagaram and Prakasam districts. This first phase will be held on February 5, the second phase on February 9, the third phase on February 14 and the fourth and final phase on February 17," he said.
Kumar also made it clear that the SEC would not budge from its stand, and would fulfil its responsibility of holding the elections on time despite the lack of support from state government on the issue.
"The organisation of the elections will strengthen local-level leadership in the state. This will bring development to the state, and will benefit its people in a big way. The SEC will take all the steps to conduct the elections in a smooth and safe manner. We will also deploy police officials to maintain law and order at the polling booths. However, any problems in the organisation of the same despite our best efforts will be the fault of the government," he said.
The AP government had earlier tried to delay the elections citing the health risks posed by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. However, the SEC had approached the state's apex court to oppose the decision. The court had then given the SEC the go-ahead to hold the rural body elections. Following this, the government approached the Supreme Court to overturn the High Court's order permitting the elections. The case will be heard on January 25.