The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday informed the high court that the process of appointing the State Election Commissioner (SEC) has been completed. It further stated that local body elections will be conducted as soon as the survey to analyze the socio-economic condition of Backward Classes (BCs) is finished.
Government Clarifies No Elections During Summer
The state government clarified that it will not conduct elections during the summer holidays. Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas told the court that the survey may take another month to be completed. He added that employees from the Swarna Grama and Swarna Ward departments are currently undertaking the survey.
Commission to Decide Reservations Based on Survey
A commission appointed by the state government will decide on reservations for various castes based on the outcome of the survey, the Advocate General explained. Multiple petitions with different prayers were filed before the high court regarding the local body elections. One petitioner, Kesana Shankar Rao, sought orders for holding elections only after the completion of the survey enumerating the total population of BCs and their socio-economic status, with a dedicated commission appointed for this purpose.
Another petition was filed by Advocate Thandava Yogesh, seeking to direct the state government to initiate the process of conducting local body elections before the expiry of the tenure. Senior counsel A Satya Prasad submitted that no information is available on what the dedicated commission is doing to assess the socio-economic conditions of BCs. He expressed concern over statements given by those in the government stating that elections will be held soon.
High Court Posts Hearing to July
Considering the submissions on both sides, the high court bench headed by Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice R Raghunandan Rao posted the matter for further hearing to the first week of July. The court will next hear the case after the survey is expected to be completed.
