Pottangi: The Andhra Pradesh government received a jolt Friday as the Andhra High Court declared the panchayat and zilla parished elections in the state, including in disputed Kotia panchayat, as invalid.
As per the directive of the Supreme Court, the High Court stated that the Andhra government has violated norms related to holding of elections in panchayat and Zilla Parishad bodies. Elections to panchayats and Zill Parishad bodies are supposed to be held four weeks after the notification, but the Andhra government held the election in Kotia within a week from the date of notification, violating the norms.
It may be noted here that leaders of Andhra BJP, TDP and Jana Sena had moved the Andhra High Court against the elections in Kotia April 3.
A three-member division bench of the High Court took up the hearing of the case April 6 and put a stay on the elections. Challenging the HC move, the AP government moved the Supreme Court and got permission from the apex court and held an election in Kotia.