Andhra Pradesh local body elections to be held in 4 phases from Feb 5

The gram panchayat elections in Andhra Pradesh will be held in four phases beginning from February 5, 2021, the State Election Commission (SEC) has announced, and the model code of conduct (MCC) has been enforced from Saturday.

State election commissioner Dr N Ramesh Kumar had issued proceedings on the election on Friday and said that “the commission having carefully weighed in the pros and cons, is in favour of adopting a pragmatic schedule” about the date of the elections. He also assured that the election commission is “fully prepared to hold elections” and sought the support of all concerned stakeholders.

Here is everything you need to know about the Andhra Pradesh gram panchayat elections:

1. The elections will be held in four phases on February 5, 9, 13 and 17 from 6:30am to 3:30pm. Model code of conduct (MCC) would be implemented in poll-bound areas from Saturday.

2. Counting of votes would begin at 4pm and declaration of results would be done on the same day as polls.

3. Initial notification for holding the gram panchayat polls in Andhra Pradesh was declared on March 7, 2020. However, the state government had cited the Covid-19 pandemic and contested the SEC’s decision to hold elections. After multiple rounds of a legal tussle between the two sides and an intervention by the Supreme Court, SEC has again declared the dates.

4. The last date for the receipt of nominations for the polls are January 27 and 31 and February 4 and 8 for the four phases respectively. Also, for withdrawal of candidature, the last dates are January 31, 2021, and February 4, 8 and 12 respectively.

5. SEC would publish the final list of contesting candidates on January 31 and February 4, 8 and 12 at 3pm.

6. Notably, SEC N Ramesh Kumar has alleged that the state government “is not in favour of holding elections during the tenure of the present commissioner and shall hold elections only after his demitting office.” In the proceedings, the SEC also said that the government has been citing Covid-19 pandemic as the reason earlier and the vaccination program as the reason now.

7. The election schedule would begin from January 23, 2021, and end by February 17, 2021, and would not coincide with the Category 3 Covid-19 vaccination program in the state, according to the state poll body.