Political parties call for free and fair polling in Kotia villages amid AP-Odisha border dispute

Former Deputy Chief Minister and YSRCP senior leader Peedika Rajanna Dora campaigning at Mamidipalli in Salur mandal, Parvatipuram Manyam district.

The political parties requested that the State Election Commission keep all polling booths at one or two locations to avoid untoward incidents in the Kotia group of villages in Salur mandal, Parvatipuram-Manyam district, against the backdrop of the dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha over jurisdiction rights to those villages.

Former Deputy Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party senior leader Peedika Rajanna Dora urged the State government and the SEC to ensure free and fair elections with a decent polling percentage in the 15 groups of villages in the Kotia cluster.

“Normally, the SEC keeps at least two polling booths in each village. It has to arrange around 28 polling booths in 14 villages. Instead of that, it can keep polling booths in villages near the Andhra Pradesh border. People from all areas of Kotia will come to vote since distance is not an issue for those who have wanted to be part of Andhra Pradesh for many decades,” said Mr. Rajanna Dora. He campaigned for his party’s ZPTC and MPTC candidates in Salur mandal.

TDP Salur mandal president A. Parameswara Rao alleged that the Odisha government was creating troubles for political campaigns in Kotia villages. He said that adequate measures were needed for peaceful elections in Kotia villages, where many TDP leaders and activists had faced numerous difficulties over the past week.

Parvatipuram-Manyam District Congress Committee president Vangala Dalinaidu urged the Andhra Pradesh government to take steps to resolve the dispute with Odisha regarding Kotia villages, noting that NDA parties were ruling both States.