The Andhra Pradesh high court on Friday stayed the decision of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government seeking to merge several villages into municipalities and corporations and conduct elections for the same.
Acting on a batch of 46 petitions filed by several villages opposing the merger of their villages with the municipalities and corporation stating that it would increase the tax burden on them, the high court stalled the implementation of the legislation for three weeks.
The high court said it would hear the arguments on the ordinance and also the amended act in this regard and complete the hearings within three weeks. Till such time, the government should not conduct elections, the court said and asked the government to file a counter in this regard.
In January, the Jagan government issued an ordinance merging 11 villages of Amaravati into Mangalagiri municipal body on the ground that it would spur overall development of the town.
It further proposed to merge Mangalagiri and Tadepalle municipal town to upgrade Mangalagiri into a mega municipal corporation.
In addition to these, areas such as Neerukonda, Kuragallu, and Krishnayapalem will form a part of the Amaravati Metro Region Development Authority (AMRDA).
