AMARAVATI: A counter affidavit filed by the State Election Commission (SEC) on the conduct of local body elections was heard in the State High Court on Wednesday. The Advocate General (AG) of Andhra Pradesh told the Court to consider all the issues listed over the conduct of elections in the state. He said that not only the election date but also the month in which the elections are to be held should be discussed in the petition.

The High Court directed the AG to write a letter to the State Election Commissioner within three days citing the objections of the State Government over the conduct of the local polls,

The High Court also directed the Chief Secretary to Government, state officials involved in the conduct of the elections to discuss with the Election Commission. The High Court reserved its judgment on petitions filed in connection with the local elections to be conducted.

The State Election Commission proposed to conduct the local body elections in February to which the State government objected considering the Coronavirus situation in the AP. The State Government also plans to conduct the COVID-19 vaccination programme shortly and this might clash with the conduct of the elections, it stated.

SEC had earlier filed a petition in the High Court challenging the interlocutory petition filed by the State Government seeking to suspend the proceedings issued by the SEC for conducting the local polls.