Andhra Pradesh: Govt likely to hold local body elections in January next year

The state government has given the green signal for the elections of municipal and Panchayat Raj local bodies in the state. Government sources say elections are likely to be held in January or February 2020. Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy hinted the ministers at the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

The government will file an affidavit in the High Court on Thursday on the election of local bodies. The State Election Commission will discuss the reservation issues after getting permission from the High Court.

However, the AP government hopes to conduct local elections as per the reservations implemented in the last election. In the past, the government has said that 59.85 per cent quota has been implemented in local bodies elections.

In fact, for the 2013 local bodies elections in Andhra Pradesh, 62.03 per cent reservation for SC, ST and BC has been implemented. Since the state was split in 2014, the reservation percentage had to be limited to 59.85 per cent.

The panchayat body term was completed in August 2018, and the then government has not held elections due to the reservations issue. However, a petition was filed in the High Court to hold the elections. The court has directed the govt to hold elections as early as possible and asked them to file an affidavit in this regard.