Andhra Govt willing to conduct gram panchayat polls after COVID vaccine arrives: YSRCP spokesperson

YSRCP spokesperson and senior leader Ambati Rambabu on Saturday said in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Andhra Pradesh government is willing to conduct the gram panchayat polls once the COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out.

Amid the tussle with the Andhra Pradesh government over local body elections, State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar on Friday announced the schedule of elections of gram panchayats in four phases beginning February 5.

"State Election Commissioner (SEC) Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar had released the gram panchayat elections schedule last evening. Nobody including the state government expected such a move from his side. Earlier, the court had ordered the SEC to consult with the government, hold discussions and then only proceed further for the conduct of elections," said Rambabu.

"The COVID pandemic is not yet over. PM is going to conduct a meeting on 11th January. Covid vaccine dry run is being conducted. Arrangements for vaccination are going on. In this wake, the state government wants to wait for some time, and once the corona vaccine comes in hand; the elections can be conducted. It was communicated to the SEC," he added.

The SEC had postponed local body elections just days before the day of polling, citing the COVID pandemic. But at that time, the cases in the state were nominal, Rambabu added.

"Now, the state government has explained the ground level situation and expressed its readiness to conduct elections after the COVID vaccine arrives. The SEC ignored that and issued a notification," said Rambabu.

"Now it became much clear that Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar is acting at the behest of Chandrababu Naidu. If anybody has any doubts on SEC's conduct, it became open now. Chandrababu Naidu is worried about the forthcoming Tirupati MP by-election which will be held soon. TDP is definite to lose even its deposit. In order to avoid that situation, TDP has conspired and SEC executed that conspiracy," he added.

The SEC has taken a controversial decision. But it is not possible to corner our party. YSRCP will break any conspiracies, Rambabu stated.

( With inputs from ANI )