Now, Andhra to conduct Zilla Parishad polls in Odisha’s Kotia

Koraput: After the controversial panchayat elections conducted by the Andhra Pradesh government in Kotia region of Odisha’s Koraput district, the neighbouring state is all set to carry out Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti members polls in the same area.

The AP government has issued notification regarding the elections scheduled to be held on April 8. The counting of votes is slated to be carried out on April 10.

Notably, the border dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh emerged as the latter included the three villages of Kotia under its Saluru block and announced panchayat polls.

The Odisha Government then moved the Supreme Court seeking contempt of court proceedings against Andhra Pradesh, mentioning in its petition that the apex court in 1968 had ordered to maintain status quo in the disputed area of Kotia.

Vizianagaram Collector M. Hari Jawaharlal in a reply submitted in the Supreme Court said the three concerned villages– Ganjaybadra, Pattuchennuru and Paguluchennuru– fall under Araku Parliamentary Constituency and Saluru Assembly Constituency of Andhra Pradesh. He further said that Lok Sabha and Assembly elections have been conducted by Andhra Pradesh in the villages since 1952 while Panchayat Polls by the AP government were held in the villages in 2006 and 2013.