Municipal polls as per schedule: SEC

Hyderabad: Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) on Wednesday clarified the commission would hold upcoming municipal elections to two municipal corporations and five municipalities notwithstanding the night curfew. The SEC asked the political parties to carry out their election campaign as per Covid 19 safety norms and added that only five people should take part in the election campaign.

It said that the election campaign should conclude before 6 pm every day. It imposed a ban on the organisation of public meetings and road shows in the poll bound urban local bodies. The commission issued these orders following the representation of the various political parties urging it to postpone the elections. The commission sought the response of the state government on the issue and wrote a letter to the chief secretary of the state.

Responding to the letter, state Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar urged the SEC to hold the elections as per the schedule announced earlier without postponement. The congress party has even approached the high court of the state on the issue and urged the court to postpone the elections by citing several obstacles for their election campaign due to the spread of the virus and restrictions imposed by the state government to hold public meetings and road shows. Responding to the petition, the HC refused to entertain the petition and asked the congress party leaders to approach the SEC on the issue.