AP govt. clarifies on local body elections, says it is not possible to hold polls in November

As the State Election Commissioner (SEC) Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar is preparing to hold local body elections in Andhra Pradesh and was decided to hold a meeting with all the political parties in the state on the 28th of this month regarding the conduct of the elections, YSRCP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy clarified on the issue.

The Andhra Pradesh government ruled out holding of local body elections in November in the wake of the covid 19 situation. CM YS Jagan on Friday conducted a review with the State Level Bankers Committee in Tadepalli. After the meeting, Minister Mekapati Gautam Reddy said that although the impact of the coronavirus epidemic in the state seems to have abated somewhat, there is a possibility of a reoccurrence. He said that the cases will increase in the month of November. "Elections in states like Bihar are mandatory and we have some leeway for local body elections," he said. So it is clear that there is no provision for holding local body elections at present.

With this, the efforts of Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar to hold elections do not seem to be fruitful. It is learned that the local body elections were postponed at a time when the coronavirus was spreading while Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar was the SEC. Jagan Mohan Reddy government took this matter seriously and brought a special ordinance and removed him from office. Nimmagadda appealed to the High Court, which ruled in his favor.

The AP government has approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court judgment however the Supreme Court also refused to grant stay and reinstated Nimmagadda as SEC. While Nimmagadda is trying to hold elections in the state at the moment, CM Jagan is adamant that there is no possibility of holding local elections.