Supreme Court likely to end PR poll standoff today

Vijayawada: A solution to the standoff between the State Government and the State Election Commission on the issue of conducting Panchayat elections is likely only after the Supreme Court gives its verdict on Monday.

Though the SEC has issued notification on Saturday and has asked the district collectors to issue the election notification for phase 1 on Monday by 10 am and start accepting nominations, the process is unlikely to be initiated until the apex court decision comes.

The employee organisations, which have also been demanding postponement of polls by three months, maintain that they will take up the election duties if the Supreme Court so decides. Legal experts are keeping their fingers crossed.

The State Government will have no option if the Supreme Court refuses to stay the polls since notification has been issued. But the big question is what will happen if Justice L Nageswara Rao says not before me since he happens to be from Andhra Pradesh.

In such an eventuality, the case will be postponed to another date and the process of polls may not move forward. Meanwhile, the State Government employees associations also moved the apex court opposing the notification released by the SEC. On the other hand, SEC N Ramesh Kumar spent his Sunday at Hyderabad. He is said to be taking legal opinion on the issue.