The Supreme Court verdict upheld the decision to postpone local body elections in Andhra Pradesh and lifted the Model Code of Conduct with immediate effect. Its a win win situation for both of them. A bench headed by chief justice S A Bobde upheld the decision of SEC to postpone the election for six weeks in view of the COVID-19 scare but gave relief to chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy by suspending the code of conduct restrictions till further notice. the state government can distribute 26.6 lakh house pattas (title deeds) on the Telugu New Year Day, Ugadi.
The government of Andhra describes it as massive setback for the State Election Commission and the duo of Telugu Desam Party and BJP as SC ordered the state election commission to lift the model code of conduct as the elections have been postponed by 6 weeks. Earlier, the state election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar announced on 15th March that the local body polls schedule to take place from the 21st of March will be postponed by a period of 6 week . He further added that the model code of conduct will be in place for the period of 6 weeks which limited the power of the government to continue it’s developmental projects, mainly the ‘Housing for poor’ scheme under which the AP government plans to give houses to over 25000 poor families . The Supreme Court decided so citing that developmental works in the state cannot be stalled for 6 weeks as the elections are postponed.
Ever since the SEC declared that the polls have been postponed, both TDP and BJP have been demanding fresh elections. The SC has clarified this as well . No fresh elections will be conducted in the state, the process which has already begun will continue post 6 weeks. This comes as another massive blow to both the parties in the state.
With the MCC being lifted the AP government which was planning to distribute ownership documents to the poor on the eve of ‘Ugadi’ has decided to go ahead with the scheme. However, the date of the same is yet to be decided.
The postponement sparked a major controversy in the state as the ruling YSRCP alleged that the order was politically motivated and that the chief election officer is acting at the behest of TDP chief Nara Chandra Babu Naidu, who appointed him in the first place during his tenure. The TDP was quick enough to belittle these charges stating that the postponement was for the health of the citizens of the state.
CM Jagan Mohan Reddy reiterated during a press conference on Sunday that there was no need to panic as there is only 1 positive case of Corona in the state and assured the people that all possible measures to curb further spread of the virus were being taken by the government. The government has setup call centres, isolation wards and quick response teams in each district to handle a possible outbreak. Training for medical teams is an ongoing process and had been initiated as soon as the scare seemed imminent.
