Assembly Passes Resolution Against Holding Polls Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Friday hit out at the State Election Commission for seeking to conduct elections to the local bodies amid the COVID-19 pandemic and passed a resolution stating that the present situation in the state is not conducive for elections in February 2021. Deputy Chief Minister (Health) AKK Srinivas moved the resolution at the fag end of the five-day winter session and Legislative Affairs Minister Buggana Rajendranath supported it.

The House then passed it “unanimously” in the absence of opposition Telugu Desam Party members who had staged a walkout earlier following suspension of 10 of its MLAs. “The perfunctory manner in which the concerns of the state have ben brushed aside by the SEC are not in spirit with the framework of the Constitution and the statute.

The Legislature opines that the conduct of elections, before the availability of efficacious mass vaccine and before the threat of Covid-19 recedes, would be injurious to public health and safety,” the resolution said. It said the state continued to grapple with the various alarms and warning signals regarding the “relapse and imminent second wave” of Covid-19 pandemic.

The state is obligated to ensure the health of its citizens and at the very minimum not to initiate any activity which compromises their life and health, it said. The state machinery has therefore communicated that it would be imprudent to schedule any elections at this time and this resolution has in its context the decision of the State Election Commission to schedule the elections in February 2021, it noted.

It said an unseemly situation has arisen in the state where the “unilateralism of the SEC” has been noticed even by the Supreme Court, which directed that further decisions after the initial postponement of elections shall be in consultation with the state (government). Notification of the elections by the SEC in disregard of the contemporary situation would have a deleterious effect on the conduct of the elections, the turnout of voters and most importantly endangers the health of the public at large and put many lives to risk, it said.

“The concern for public health cannot be a subject matter of competitive assessment and the state’s bonafide opinion on such matter ought not to have been brushed aside,”the resolution added. Local bodies elections and the legitimacy of the elected members is directly related to the voters choice, it pointed out.

“If the voters do not turnout to exercise their franchise to choose their representatives out of fear of Covid and danger to their lives, it deprives them of their fundamental right to vote, which is the very foundation of a true democracy. It may result in an elected body not being true representative of the people,” it noted.

The government said about five lakh staffers were required for the conduct of elections and they had been representing not to precipitate the situation. “While the assembly recognises with respect the independence of the constitutional bodies specifically conferred with powers, it notes that unilateral decisions without considering bonafide concerns of elected government would be inconsistent with the constitutional scheme,” the resolution said.

The House also resolved that suitable legal provisions be incorporated in the AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, and consequent rules to handle such situations. Earlier, ten MLAs of the Telugu Desam Party were suspended from the Assembly for the fifth consecutive day on Friday, the last day of the winter session, on the charge that they disrupted the proceedings of the House.

The remaining TDP members, including their leader N Chandrababu Naidu, walked out in protest.