Andhra goes ahead with Kotia local body polls despite Odisha’s plea in Supreme Court

A resident of Madkar village in the Kotia gram panchayat shows voter cards issued by both the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha governments. Andhra Pradesh is going ahead with local body polls in the disputed villages on November 5. File

The Andhra Pradesh government and the State Election Commission are making all arrangements to conduct local body elections in the Kotia group of villages on the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border, despite strong objections from Odisha. The neighbouring State has approached the Supreme Court to stop the election process in the disputed region.

Both the States have been at odds over the jurisdiction of the Kotia group of villages for about seven decades. Both have also been holding local body elections there for many decades. Odisha has objected before: it filed contempt petitions when Andhra Pradesh held polls in the villages in 2021. This time, it filed a fresh contempt petition last month, alleging that the poll notification violates the Supreme Court’s 2006 order directing both States to maintain the status quo. The villages are located 35 km from Salur town of Parvathipuram Manyam district.

Since the court has not passed any order on Odisha’s petition, the Parvathipuram Manyam district administration is making all arrangements to hold elections in places like Ganjai Bhadra, Pagalu Chennuru, Pattu Chennuru, Kurukutti, Sarika, Kotia and other villages on November 5, 2026. The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which won the Salur Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency and all four Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies in 2021, is keen to win them again with its spirited campaign in all Kotia villages.

Former Deputy Chief Minister and YSRCP senior leader Peedika Rajanna Dora on Monday alleged that the TDP, JSP and BJP alliance parties colluded with the ruling BJP leaders of Odisha to stop the election process in the Kotia group of villages as they were fearful of defeat there. “Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy government had won the hearts of Kotia people with its welfare schemes with an aim to get complete jurisdiction rights for AP over Kotia group of villages. The people who benefited from the welfare schemes of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will vote for us,” said Mr. Rajanna Dora while speaking to the media in Salur.

The Telugu Desam Party rejected the YSRCP’s allegations and said the TDP and its alliance partners would get an absolute majority in the Kotia villages this time, as was evident from the spectacular response to the TDP’s campaign in those villages. “In spite of the strong objection from Odisha officials, TDP has been campaigning vigorously in all villages. Recently, Odisha officials seized our campaign vehicle. In spite of all hurdles, we are continuing the campaign in those villages,” said TDP Salur mandal president A. Parameswara Rao.

Meanwhile, Parvathipuram Manyam Collector N. Prabhakara Reddy and Superintendent of Police S.V. Madhav Reddy directed all political leaders to be cautious while campaigning in sensitive areas of the AP-Odisha border. They also asked polling officials to take care of ballot boxes, ballots and other polling material while conducting the election process in the Kotia group of villages. The police department is expected to send additional security forces to the Kotia villages to ensure free and fair elections. According to them, there may not be any untoward incidents on polling day as the local body elections were conducted smoothly in 2021.