The High court of Andhra Pradesh agrees with the argument of the state election commission today and ruled out the request of the AP state government to issue stay on the local body polls scheduled to happen in February next year.
Advocate Ashwin Kumar argued that there is no reason for the AP government to ask for the postponement of the polls while the state counsel still cites the COVID threat as the reason. One has to keep in mind that many elections were held in many parts of the country in the past few weeks and most recently, the GHCM polls took place in Hyderabad, the most affected city with COVID in two Telugu states without any problem.
The State counsel brought in a new angle into the controversy stating that the Election Commission has violated the orders of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court earlier said that the Election commission should consult the state government before deciding on the polls. However, the EC clarified that they have consulted the AP government three times on the same issue.
Advocate Ashwin Kumar on the other hand questioned why the AP government had not approached the Supreme Court if it had violated the Supreme Court orders. He refuted their claims severely and said that the government came to the High court rather than complaining to the supreme court because they have to hide their mistakes.
Court after hearing both arguments, did not consider the government’s request to stay on local body polls. Though the hearing was adjourned for tomorrow, it is nothing but one last chance for Jagan to come up with a valid reason. Otherwise it seems the commencement of polls is inevitable.