Andhra High Court suspends panchayat elections schedule

Amaravati, Jan 11 : The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday suspended the schedule for the rural local bodies elections declared by State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar.
Observing that he did not take an objective decision in this matter, the court said that it is of the view that elections will hamper the vaccination programme, and pointed out that the SEC did not objectively consider the state government’s view, which was conveyed by the Chief Secretary.
It said that the decision to go ahead with elections at this juncture amounts to the violation of fundamental rights.
On Friday, Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das wrote to Ramesh Kumar that the halted rural local body elections could be resumed once the total vaccination programme along with coronavirus management is allowed to proceed unhindered.
He also highlighted that most functionaries of the state government would be engaged in the massive vaccination operation, being undertaken in collaboration with the Union Health Ministry.
Despite the government’s request, the SEC went ahead in issuing the election schedule within a short time of meeting Das, a move termed as unilateral by the government.