Biennial polls to AP, T Legislative Councils on Mar 14

[Anta Assamey]

Biennial elections to four constituencies of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Legislative Councils will be held on March 14 and the result declared on March 17, the Election Commission said on Thursday.

The voting will be held between 8 am and 4 pm. The whole process is proposed to be completed before March 26.

The polls have been necessitated as the terms of two members of Andhra Council from Teachers' constituencies and two members of the Telangana Council from Graduates' constituencies will expire on March 29.

In Andhra Pradesh, Ramu Surya Rao will retire from East-West Godavari constituency and AS Ramakrishna from Krishna-Guntur.

In Telangana, Ramachandra Rao N will retire from Mahabubnagar-Ranga Reddy-Hyderabad Graduates' constituency along with Palla Rajeshwar Reddy from Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda constituency.

The notification for the elections will be issued on February 16. The last date for filing nominations is February 23, for scrutiny February 24, and last date for withdrawal of nominations February 26.

The Model Code of Conduct will come into force with immediate effect in the constituencies concerned, the Commission said.

Broad guidelines need to be followed during the election processes. Every person ought to wear face masks during every election-related activity at the entry of hall, room or premises used for election purposes.

Norms pertaining to thermal scanning, sanitisers, social distancing and others set by the Ministries of Home Affairs and Health will have to be adhered to.

"As far as practicable, large halls shall be identified and utilised to ensure social distance norm. Adequate number of vehicles shall be mobilised for the movement of polling and security personnel to ensure compliance with Covid-19 guidelines," the Commission said.