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Conduct rural polls within 2 mths: HC to AP
In a move which may exacerbate the political woes of the ruling Congress party, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday cleared the way for conducting the much-delayed local bodies elections in the State.
The High Court issued the orders to the State Government to submit its report on reservations for the three-tier panchayat raj elections to the State Election Commission at the earliest.
Spelling out that the total reservations should not exceed 50 per cent, the court said that the entire process of conducting the elections should be completed in three months.
The terms of the local bodies had ended last year but the State Government had delayed conducting fresh elections on the ground that the report of the 2011 census was not ready for finalising the fresh reservation quota for various castes. But the court now said that in absence of the latest data, the Government can rely on the 2001 data for finalising the reservations.
Due to the failure of the State Government in conducting the elections to the Gram Panchayats, Mandal Praja Parishads and the Zilla Parishads, the State has wasted Rs 1,500 crore funds from the Union Government.
Reacting to the High Court’s verdict, the State election commissioner Ramakant Reddy said that the commission was ready to conduct the local bodies’ elections within three months. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy also expressed confidence that the process will be completed in three months. Another senior Minister Shailajanath said that whether the election should be on the party basis or not was yet to be decided.
While the main Opposition Telugu Desam and the YSR Congress party had welcomed the High Court orders, it seems to have put the ruling party in a quandary as it was facing a tough political and electoral challenge from the YSR Congress as was clear from the results of the recent by-elections in the State. The Congress party had drawn a blank in the by-polls to one Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats. The YSR Congress party had bagged 17 Assembly and one Lok Sabha seat and TRS had bagged one Assembly seat.
Expressing happiness over the High Court order, the honorary president of YSR Congress and MLA Vijayalakshmi said that her party will emerge as the biggest political force in the State in the local bodies elections thanks to the pro-poor and pro-farmer policies pursued by her late husband YS Rajashekhar Reddy. Lok Satta Party also hailed the High Court judgment and urged the State Government to show sincerity in implementing the court orders.
In a move which may exacerbate the political woes of the ruling Congress party, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday cleared the way for conducting the much-delayed local bodies elections in the State.
The High Court issued the orders to the State Government to submit its report on reservations for the three-tier panchayat raj elections to the State Election Commission at the earliest.
Spelling out that the total reservations should not exceed 50 per cent, the court said that the entire process of conducting the elections should be completed in three months.
The terms of the local bodies had ended last year but the State Government had delayed conducting fresh elections on the ground that the report of the 2011 census was not ready for finalising the fresh reservation quota for various castes. But the court now said that in absence of the latest data, the Government can rely on the 2001 data for finalising the reservations.
Due to the failure of the State Government in conducting the elections to the Gram Panchayats, Mandal Praja Parishads and the Zilla Parishads, the State has wasted Rs 1,500 crore funds from the Union Government.
Reacting to the High Court’s verdict, the State election commissioner Ramakant Reddy said that the commission was ready to conduct the local bodies’ elections within three months. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy also expressed confidence that the process will be completed in three months. Another senior Minister Shailajanath said that whether the election should be on the party basis or not was yet to be decided.
While the main Opposition Telugu Desam and the YSR Congress party had welcomed the High Court orders, it seems to have put the ruling party in a quandary as it was facing a tough political and electoral challenge from the YSR Congress as was clear from the results of the recent by-elections in the State. The Congress party had drawn a blank in the by-polls to one Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly seats. The YSR Congress party had bagged 17 Assembly and one Lok Sabha seat and TRS had bagged one Assembly seat.
Expressing happiness over the High Court order, the honorary president of YSR Congress and MLA Vijayalakshmi said that her party will emerge as the biggest political force in the State in the local bodies elections thanks to the pro-poor and pro-farmer policies pursued by her late husband YS Rajashekhar Reddy. Lok Satta Party also hailed the High Court judgment and urged the State Government to show sincerity in implementing the court orders.
