VIJAYAWADA: The State Election Commission filed a counter-affidavit asking the AP High Court to strike down the petition filed by the state government against the conduct of gram panchayat polls on the grounds that the administration would be involved in Covid-19 vaccination programme.In the affidavit filed on Thursday, the SEC stated that it would take three to six months for Covid-19 vaccine to reach AP as the Centre would distribute the vaccine on a priority basis.
It informed the court that elections in Bihar, Rajasthan and Hyderabad were held successfully.The SEC said that it had decided to conduct gram panchayat polls in February after taking opinions of all stakeholders and added that at present, the situation in AP was suitable for conduct of gram panchayat polls as planned in February.