Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission on Sunday announced postponement of the local body elections in the state in view of the prevailing situation due to coronavirus outbreak. State Election Commissioner Ramesh Kumar told the media that the elections were being postponed for six weeks. The elections to rural local bodies and urban local bodies were scheduled to be held on March 21 and March 23 respectively. Polling for Panchayats were scheduled to be held in two phases on March 27 and 29.
He said the decision was taken in view of the precautionary measures being taken across the country to prevent possible spread of coronavirus. The commissioner said there was a possibility of the virus being spread through ballot papers to be used for the polling.
He said a decision on the new dates would be taken after a review of the situation six weeks later.
IANS
