Andhra Pradesh state election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar sprang a surprise on all the political parties in the state by applying for leave to go on a holiday for week.
According to sources, Nimmagadda will be going on leave from March 16 to 21. In fact, he would be leaving on March 15 itself, soon after the completion of election process for municipal elections, counting of votes for which will begin on Sunday.
Nimmagadda reportedly informed the Governor’s office to this effect. He is said to be leaving for Arunachal Pradesh along with his family members on a vacation. He would be returning to Vijayawada only March 21 (Sunday) and resuming duty from Monday.
Nimmagadda’s leave comes at a time when the political parties are eagerly waiting for the announcement of schedule for mandal parishad and zilla parishad elections, the process of which was halted in March 2020 due to onset of Coronavirus pandemic.
Since Nimmagadda will retiring on March 31, the possibility of announcing the schedule for mandal and zilla parishad elections will be bleak.
Moreover, the budget session of the state assembly will begin on March 19 and so, the Jagan government also might not be willing to hold the zilla and mandal parishad elections immediately.
It would mean these elections would be held only after the appointment of new SEC. There is also a talk that since the Jagan government is going to reorganise the districts soon; and so, there would be more Zilla Parishads.
It would also result in change in the number of MPTC and ZPTC members in the districts as well. So, the government might go in for elections only after delimitation of districts, sources said.
