Andhra government moves HC against SEC's decision to hold gram panchayat polls

VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Saturday moved a house motion petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court challenging the State Election Commissioner releasing the schedule for panchayat elections and sought a stay on the election proceedings. The High Court will take up the petition for hearing on Monday. On Friday, State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar had released the schedule for panchayat elections. According to the SEC, the election process will commence on January 23. The elections will be held in four phases from February 5 to 17. 

Principal Secretary (Panchayat Raj) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, filing the house motion petition on behalf of the government, made Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, in his individual capacity, as a respondent. The SEC secretary, union home secretary, union health and family welfare secretary were also made as respondents in the case. In the petition, he explained that the Supreme Court had directed the SEC to announce the election dates after consulting with the State government and the High court too had asked the SEC to hold consultations with the government and take the government’s objections in writing.  However, even before the court orders were received, the SEC shot off a letter to the government informing it of a  meeting on January 8. 

The Principal Secretary, in the petition, explained that within hours after the delegation of officials met him to explain why elections cannot be held in February, the SEC released the schedule for the elections. His actions are unilateral and in violation of the court orders, he added.  The official appealed to the court to take note of Ramesh Kumar’s comments that the government is contemplating holding elections only after he retires from the post. 

Explaining that the government is holding online discussions with Union Home and Health departments on the Covid vaccination drive, which the Central government wants to be held on the lines of the general elections, he said the entire State official machinery will be involved in the process. In the petition, he also informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding a discussion with the chief ministers on January 11 with regard to the vaccination drive.

Dwivedi complained that the SEC has disregarded all these aspects and not taken public health issues into account, and unilaterally released the election schedule. Earlier in his petition, the SEC had mentioned the elections held in Bihar, Kerala and the US.  “After the elections were held in those places, the number of Covid cases has increased. In Kerala, by the first phase of elections held in November, the number of cases was 4.5 lakh and by third phase, it increased to 6.5 lakh. In the US, before the election, the number of cases was 97.53 lakh and after election it went up to 2.21 crore. Number of cases in Bihar has also increased after the polls,” Dwivedi said in the petition.