The Andhra Pradesh government has begun preparations to conduct the long-pending local body elections, with the electoral process expected to begin in September.
According to official reports, the elections are likely to be held in phases, starting with municipal bodies. This will be followed by elections to Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies, Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies and gram panchayats.
The state government on Thursday reportedly outlined a tentative election schedule, indicating that municipal polls could be held first in September.
Once the municipal elections are completed, polls for MPTCs and ZPTCs are expected to be conducted, followed by gram panchayat elections.
As part of the preparations, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has directed the ruling Telugu Desam Party to strengthen its grassroots outreach and prepare for the polls.
He instructed TDP MLAs and other public representatives to undertake a 45-day door-to-door campaign in their respective constituencies from July 27. The campaign will focus on creating awareness among people about the government’s welfare schemes and development programmes.
The Chief Minister also issued a series of organisational instructions to party leaders ahead of the elections.
These include speeding up appointments to various nominated posts, intensifying public awareness campaigns on government welfare schemes and effectively countering what the party described as misinformation and propaganda by the opposition YSR Congress Party.
Addressing TDP zonal coordinators and other party functionaries, Chandrababu Naidu said that if these preparatory activities were completed on schedule, the government would be in a position to begin the local body election process in September as planned.
