Court dismisses plea to defer Andhra Pradesh by-polls

HYDERABAD - The Andhra Pradesh High Court Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking postponement of by-elections to 12 assembly constituencies in the Telangana region.

A division bench dismissed the petition, saying the court will not interfere in the functioning of the Election Commission of India.

It suggested to the petitioner to move the commission if he had any objections with regard to the elections.

Elections to 12 constituencies are likely to be held in August and the poll schedule is expected to be announced by month-end.

Lawyer J. Narayanswamy, who belongs to Anantapur district, filed the petition seeking court orders to the commission against issuing the poll notification.

The petitioner argued that the situation in Telangana was not conducive to holding polls.

The petition had assumed significance in view of the pressure on both the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from groups seeking a separate state of Telangana not to contest the by-polls.

The by-elections were necessitated by the resignation of all 10 legislators of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and one legislator each of the TDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to press the demand for separate Telangana state.

The TRS, BJP and other pro-Telangana parties and groups have appealed to the Congress and TDP not to enter the fray and ensure the unanimous election of the legislators who resigned for the cause of Telangana.

A section of Congress leaders in Telangana region have also urged the party leadership not to field candidates. State Congress chief D. Srinivas met party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi Tuesday to discuss the developments.

Congress sources said the central leadership would take a decision on the issue after deliberations with all sections within the party.