Koraput/Pottangi: The feud between the Odisha government and its Andhra Pradesh over control of the Kotia panchayat took a new turn Monday. The Koraput district administration has started its preparation to hold panchayat elections in Kotia. This move comes months after the Andhra Pradesh government conducted polls to the Kotia panchayat.
Both the Andhra and the Odisha government have been at loggerheads regarding territorial rights in Kotia region. The actual jurisdiction of the Kotia region lies in Odisha, the state government has claimed repeatedly in the past. The dispute over Kotia is a long-pending border issue between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Both the States have been claiming their sovereign rights on the area, which consists of 27 small tribal hamlets.
Reports said that the district administration of Vizianagaram conducted the counting of votes at Government Degree College in Salur and announced the names of the winning candidates. YSR Congress’ candidate Majhi Appalamma secured victory in the rural polls in Tala Ganjeipadar panchayat defeating his nearest rival by 41 votes. He secured 124 votes. Similarly, Koneti Gindo received 311 votes in Phagunsineri panchayat and won as a Samiti member. Ambadi Anil Kumar received 16,305 votes and became a Zilla Parishad member. The YSR Congress candidates were very successful in the ‘polls’ conducted by the Andhra government.
The Andhra government had conducted the panchayat elections April 8 after changing the names of Ganjeipadar, Phaguna Sineri and Phaatu Sineri. However, due to an Andhra Pradesh High Court order the results had been not been announced. They were finally announced Sunday.
This happened because the BJP, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jansena had knocked on the doors of Andhra Pradesh High Court April 6 with a plea to nullify the elections held in Kotia as well as across the state. A three- member division bench heard the matter and stayed the declaration of results. In spite of the high court order, the Andhra government went ahead with the polls. After the stay order was vacated Monday last, the results of the Kotia panchayat were declared Sunday.
Notably, Andhra Pradesh had recognised Tala Ganjeipadar, Phagunsineri and Phatusineri villages in Kotia as three separate panchayats and conducted the elections for the posts of sarpanch in all the three.
Meanwhile, the Koraput district administration has started preparing to hold three–tier panchayat polls in Kotia panchayat. The Odisha government will conduct the three-tier rural body election of its own in the Kotia group of villages in due course of time. It has no connection with the election which was conducted recently by the Andhra Pradesh government, District Information and Public Relation Officer (DIPRO) of Koraput, Jagannath Prasad Rayguru said Monday in a press note. He said that the Andhra government-conducted polls hold no meaning for the Odisha government, as it does not consider Kotia to be a part of the neighbouring state. The elections to the Kotia panchayat will be conducted with other parts of Odisha, informed Rayguru.
At that time, local candidates can file nominations while the people of Kotia will elect their leaders for the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI), the DIPRO further said in the press note