Hyderabad, June 15: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday cleared the way for conducting elections to the Panchayat Raj bodies with the existing 60.5 per cent political reservation. Following the interim order by Justice G. Rohini, the State Election Commissioner, Mr P. Ramakanth Reddy, said on Tuesday that the Commission would issue the poll notification in the next four to five days. “Elections will be held in July,” he said.With this the government has been put in a dicey situation.
While it is in the interest of the ruling Congress that the reservation stays at its current level, it would prefer not to have the elections in July due to the present political scenario. Sources said that the Jagan factor was weighing heavily on the government. Though the Opposition parties welcomed the High Court order, the government might go ahead with an Ordinance appointing special officers.
Clarifying the government’s stand, the panchayat raj minister, Mr K. Jana Reddy, told mediapersons that the government had information regarding the petitioners — the Andhra Pradesh Sarpanch Association — challenging the interim order before a division bench of the High Court. “The government will act on the basis of the outcome of that,” he said. The Telugu Desam alleged the government is shying away from holding polls. The sarpanch association had filed a petition with the High Court seeking a stay order on the elections which it stated were being held in violation of the Supreme Court’s directive to limit political reservation to 50 per cent. Justice G. Rohini, however, turned down the plea.
–Agencies