SEC writes letter to Governor against AP’s move on gram panchayat polls

Vijayawada: State Election Commissioner N. Ramesh Kumar wrote a letter to Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan here on Saturday against the AP government’s move to insist that the SEC takes the government’s permission to conduct gram panchayat elections. He said it was against the spirit of the Constitution.

The AP government had passed a resolution in the Assembly on Friday stating that it was not possible to conduct gram panchayat polls in February, 2021 in the wake of prevalence of Covid-19 and the threat of a second wave.

On November 17, the SEC had started proceedings to conduct gram panchayat polls in February, 2021 after consulting the state government.

In the backdrop of the recent Assembly resolution, the commissioner mentioned that the SEC is an independent agency with the authority to hold elections every five years as per article 243K of Indian Constitution. He further said that the SEC had the power similar to the Election Commission of India to conduct elections.

The SEC appealed to the Governor to reject any ordinance the state government could come up with making it mandatory for the SEC to take government’s permission to conduct gram panchayat polls. He even suggested to the Governor to consult legal experts from the Supreme Court on the issue.