Daijiworld Media Network - Salur
Salur, Oct 24: At least 20 nominations have been filed for five Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) seats in Salur mandal despite a campaign in Odisha urging residents of the disputed Kotia region to boycott Andhra Pradesh's local body elections.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) filed 11 nominations, the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) submitted nine, while the Communist Party of India (CPI) filed one nomination for the five seats.
The disputed Kotia group comprises 21 villages with a population of around 4,349 and more than 1,600 registered voters across the five MPTC segments of Ganjaibhadra, Kurukuti, Sarika, Tonam and Kodama in Salur mandal.
Kumari Habi Rashid, Deputy Commissioner of Odisha, camped in Kotia and visited several villages, including Ganjaibhadra, Eguva Sembi and Neredivalasa along the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border, to assess public opinion on the MPTC elections. During the visits, she interacted with residents and enquired about their participation in the local body polls being conducted by the Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission.
Former Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik had written to Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, urging decisive intervention to protect the state's territorial integrity after Andhra Pradesh issued the election notification.
Former Odisha Higher Education Minister Rabi Narayan Nanda also led a door-to-door campaign in the disputed region, urging residents not to participate in Andhra Pradesh's local body elections. He maintained that the villages fall under Odisha's jurisdiction and called on residents to boycott the neighbouring state's electoral exercise.
Tensions escalated at Pattuchennuru, where BJD activists reportedly confronted YSRCP leaders during their election campaign. The activists allegedly raised “Go Back Andhra” slogans, entered the campaign site and destroyed food prepared for campaign workers and local residents, triggering friction between the two sides.
Meanwhile, residents of the disputed Kotia villages have urged Andhra Pradesh officials to ensure the smooth conduct of the MPTC and panchayat elections. They said they wanted to exercise their voting rights freely and fairly without pressure from Odisha.
The nominations come amid a longstanding territorial dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha over the Kotia villages, with both states seeking to assert their administrative presence in the region.