SEC releases new, revised notification for local elections

The Supreme Court of India has finally given its verdict on the Special Leave Petition filed by the Andhra Pradesh government, which was filed challenging the verdict of the High Court of AP, which asked the government to follow the instructions of the SEC with respect to the elections, and to not meddle with the SEC’s decisions.

Following the SC’s verdict, the AP SEC has released a new, revised notification for the upcoming local body elections in Andhra Pradesh. The first phase of the election polling was initially supposed to have begun on February 5th, but it has now been pushed back to February 9th. The 2nd phase will take place on 13th, the third phase on 17th and the fourth phase on the 21st.

The nominations for the first phase will be accepted till the 29th of this month, the nominations for the second phase will be accepted till 2nd February, the nominations for the third phase will be accepted till 6th February, adn teh nominations for the fourth phase will be accepted till 10th February. Apart from this, Nimmagadda has also ordered the district collectors to take the help of Central government employees, in case they need extra help with conducting the elections.

The Andhra Pradesh government will now have to cooperate with the SEC at any cost, as they said that they would not extend any support until the SC releases its verdict. Now that the SC has cancelled out all petitions filed by the government, it is to be seen if the government will finally cooperate with the SEC in conducting the elections, or if it will come up with another plan.