Andhra Pradesh: Municipal polls to be held on March 10, counting on March 14

State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar on Monday announced the polls schedule. The last date for filing nominations is March 3.

Elections to 12 Municipal Corporations, and 75 Municipal and Urban Panchayats (Local Bodies) will be held on March 10. Re-election, if any, will be held on March 13 in places where it is deemed necessary. The counting of votes will be held on March 14.

Urban local body elections scheduled for March 23 last year were postponed due to the Corona pandemic. Nominations were already filed for divisions and wards in 12 Municipal Corporations. Nominations were also filed for 75 Municipal wards and Urban Panchayats. The procedure was stalled at the nominations stage due to lockdown.

With Panchayat elections concluding in few days, the election process for the Urban Local Bodies and Municipalities will commence soon after.

The State government recently asked the State Election Commission to hold simultaneous elections to the remaining municipalities, MPTC and ZPTC posts. Chief Secretary has appointed MM Nayak as the Municipal Commissioner for the upcoming Municipal Elections.

With the issue of notification, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the urban areas of the entire State with effect from February 15, 2021, and shall remain in force till the completion of the election process.

With the release of the schedule for municipal elections, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) in Vizag city is all set to go for elections after a gap of 14 years.