The State Election Commission (SEC) has decided to adopt electoral rolls already published with reference to January 1, 2019 as qualifying date and updated up to the date of notification for MPTCs/ZPTCs on March 07, 2020 for conducting the local body elections.
State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, in an order on Friday, said the Commission earlier decided to adopt the latest Assembly electoral rolls published by the Election Commission of India. The ECI has published the final Assembly electoral rolls on January 15, 2021 on schedule.
The Panchayat Raj Department and the Commissioner of Panchayat Raj have singularly failed to take any meaningful and follow up measures to either obtain the draft electoral rolls published by the ECI on November 16, 2020 or even the final roll published on January 15, 2021, despite being reminded on any number of occasions, the order said.
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It is, therefore, clear that the Government in Panchayat Raj Department and the Commissioner of Panchayat Raj have decided to defy the direction of the Commission as well as flout the responsibility cast on them for preparation of electoral rolls in terms of Article 243K of the Constitution. Be it as may, the process of elections cannot be halted because of deliberate failures and detriment efforts to thwart them, the order stated.
“The Commission under the present compelling circumstances has decided to adopt electoral rolls already published with reference to January 1, 2019 as qualifying date and updated up to the date of notification for MPTCs/ZPTCs on March 07, 2020 for all the afore-cited reasons,” Mr. Ramesh Kumar added.