AP SEC issues notification for first phase of local polls

Amaravati: The stand-off between the State Election Commission and the AP government continued on Saturday over the conduct of the local body elections. While the government wants to wait till Monday for the decision of the Supreme Court before starting the process of holding elections, the SEC on Saturday issued the poll notification for the first phase of the elections to be held on February 5.

In the first phase, gram panchayats under 146 revenue mandals in 11 districts will go to polls, according to the notification issued by State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar on Saturday.

Ramesh Kumar said if the Supreme Court gives a different verdict, the SEC would honour it.

The SEC called the gram panchayat elections 'historic', given the circumstances under which they were being held. "People are very enthusiastic to take part in the election process. It is, of course, a major challenge for the Commission to conduct the polls against the odds," Ramesh Kumar remarked.

Panchayat elections are not being held in the first phase in Vizianagaram and Prakasam districts. The elections will be held on apolitical basis.

A high drama followed the announcement of the notification. The SEC convened a videoconference with the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police and District Collectors. The CS urged the SEC to postpone the videoconference, but the SEC refused saying that since the notification was issued it was necessary to discuss the process with district officials. Finally, none of the officials participated in the conference citing technical glitches.

This was followed by statements by Ministers, including Minister for Panchayat Raj Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, that a conspiracy against Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was being hatched by some forces. He even said no official will cooperate till the Supreme Court judgement comes. He said the state government had sought a 60-day time to hold the elections as the vaccination process has begun.

On the other hand, some employees' unions citing 'life above all' priority, said that if the SEC wants to go ahead with the conduct of the polls, they will go on strike.

The SEC, however, said that it was the responsibility of the state government to ensure that the elections were conducted in a smooth manner. "Ultimately, the government will have to face the consequences if anything doesn't go well," he observed. Ramesh Kumar said he had apprised the Governor of the prevailing situation.

"I will continue to keep reporting to the Governor on the poll process. If required, I will submit a report to the Supreme Court as well," he said. Following the day's developments, the SEC wanted to meet the Governor on Sunday and submit a status report. But as he did not get any confirmation from the Raj Bhavan till late on Saturday evening, he left for Hyderabad.

Letter to DGP on threat to life

Meanwhile, the SEC wrote a letter to the DGP saying that the Chairman of the Federation of State Government Employees Venkatarami Reddy, who has been opposing the conduct of the polls, had threatened to kill him. Ramesh Kumar in his letter said that Venkatrami Reddy had claimed that the Constitution has given a right to every individual to defend his life. In continuance of this right, the Constitution has given him the right to kill. The SEC said the Commission views this as most provocative statement and asked the DGP to keep close watch on the activities of Venkatrami Reddy.