It is known that a cold war has been on between the State Election Commission and the YS Jagan led government over the issue of local body elections in the state. Earlier when the SEC proposed holding the local body elections in February, the state government was reluctant to the proposal put forward by Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission Chief Nimmagadda Prasad. A single-judge bench had given a ruling in the case favouring the state government. However, the SEC who challenged the decision by submitting a writ appeal to the Division Bench of the AP High Court gave his assurance saying that the vaccination drive would not hinder the election process. To this, AG Sriram arguing on behalf of the state government said that since the employees would be busy in the vaccine drive, the elections cannot be held.
Now the AP High Court Divisional Bench hearing the issue on Thursday took a crucial decision saying that panchayat elections must be held. The court also made it clear that elections and vaccination, both are mandatory and that the state government must figure out a way to ensure that both the processes are managed. The court also dismissed the verdict given by the single-judge bench that had stayed the elections, by accepting the writ appeal produced by the SEC. It is known that the SEC had announced the election schedule on January 8th.
