Over 30 Kotia residents vote in AP rural polls

Koraput: More than 30 people from the Kotia region of Koraput district cast their votes at a polling booth in Andhra Pradesh’s Sariki village during the rural polls for the neighbouring State on Thursday. A day earlier, Odisha police had sealed a polling booth set up by the Andhra Pradesh administration in Neradivalsa village along the inter-state border amid heightened tensions after the government of the neighbouring state initiated steps to hold rural elections in some villages in the disputed territory.

The decades-old dispute involves both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh claiming their right over 21 of the 28 villages of Kotia Gram Panchayat on the borders of the two states. The matter has been pending before the Supreme Court, with a fresh suit filed by Odisha in January 2022 still under consideration.

People of these villages enjoy dual voting status, granting them the unique privilege of exercising their franchise in both states. On Wednesday, the Koraput district administration sealed a polling booth at Neradivalsa village, following which it was shifted to Sariki.

Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Pottangi legislator Rama Chandra Kadam and BJD leader Bhrugu Baxipatra confronted some voters upon their return to Neradivalsa after casting their ballots, asking them why they participated in the elections despite the ongoing dispute. Sources said some people of Kotia region with dual voter identity cards sneaked into Sariki village by crossing the river and hills and cast their votes early on Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, the political row in Odisha over Andhra Pradesh’s rural poll notification for the disputed Kotia region showed no signs of cooling, with the BJP saying that the BJD has lost “moral right” to raise the issue after “allowing” the neighbouring state to hold elections there thrice.

Leader of Opposition and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik has shot off two letters to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, accusing the ruling BJP of maintaining “silence” over the dispute due to its “dependence” on NDA ally TDP, and sought urgent steps to protect Odisha’s territorial integrity as promised in the BJP’s 2024 election manifesto.

Hitting back, the Odisha BJP, in an X post, said, “Dear Naveen Babu, you betrayed the people of Odisha by allowing Andhra Pradesh to conduct local body elections in Kotia not once or twice, but three times.” “You also failed to submit a legally tenable affidavit on Kotia to the Supreme Court in 2023, which could have made a significant impact. Neither you nor your party has any moral right to speak on Kotia now,” it said.

The party also alleged that Patnaik failed to protect Odisha’s interests and now was “trying to hide three decades of failures and shift the blame onto the BJP government”, which is fully committed to and has been safeguarding the state’s rights.

“Despite the honourable Chief Minister Mohan Majhi assuring that constructive suggestions would be considered to resolve the long-pending issue, you have only resorted to letter-writing. Please live up to your carefully crafted image of a statesman of politics,” the Odisha BJP said.

The BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty hit back, alleging that Delhi’s political equations matter more to the BJP than Odisha’s. “Odisha deserves answers, not excuses or betrayal!” he said.

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The Hans India