The Andhra Pradesh High Court today cleared the 50 percent reservations for various sections in AP Panchayat Raj Institutions. With this the decks have been cleared to go for the elections. The High Court has asked the Government to fix the reservations upto 50 percent and submit a report to the election commission to this effect.
The State Election Commission will have to complete the election process within three months after it receives the report from the Government. Hence, it is in the hands of the Government to submit the report and expedite the process.
The Andhra Pradesh state has a three tier rural administration system with Gram Panchayats, Mandal Parishads and Zilla Parishads. The actual term of these bodies has been ended in July / August 2011.
The State Government has been delaying the PR elections due to the political reasons. The Jagan factor and reginal issues have put the Congress Party on the backfoot. With the ruling of the High Court, the Govt. may move towards conducting PR elections as soon as possible.