Andhra Pradesh

YSRCP State General Secretary and Member of Legislative Council Lella Appi Reddy has written to Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission. He asked that all eligible voters registered with Election Commission of India up to July 15, 2026, be added to the electoral rolls for the upcoming local body elections.

He submitted this representation on October 10. Appi Reddy pointed out that the Commission had earlier said it would use electoral rolls as of February 5, 2026, for the polls. But many eligible voters finished their enrolment after this date and up to July 15 during the Special Intensive Revision process. Their registration was stopped after that.

Appi Reddy said these voters had already completed the required enrolment process. Their names were part of the official electoral records. Leaving them out by using an older version of the rolls would stop them from taking part in the voting process.

YSRCP Asks for Updated Rolls and Clear Rules

YSRCP has asked State Election Commission to use the electoral rolls updated up to July 15, 2026. This includes all approved supplementary additions and corrections. The party also asked for the same instructions to be sent to all relevant departments. It wants the updated rolls published on time so voters can check their details and fix any mistakes.

Meanwhile, YSRCP State Coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy addressed the party's Legal Cell meeting. It was held at YSRCP Central Office in Tadepalli. He asked the Legal Cell to act as a protective shield for candidates in local body elections. Legal support should be available from the nomination stage right through to counting.

Sajjala recommended setting up these support groups right away:

• District-level legal war rooms
• Constituency-level task forces
• State-level coordination system

He also questioned why the government is in a hurry to hold local elections before the Special Intensive Revision process is done and final electoral rolls are out. Holding elections before new eligible voters are included would take away their right to vote, he said.

He also asked that the BC Reservation Commission report be made public. The criteria for setting reservation percentages should be shared with everyone.

General Secretary Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy said the Legal Cell has always helped party workers facing cases, arrests, and harassment. Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy said no nomination should be rejected on technical grounds. Legal help should be given right away in such cases. Malasani Manohar Reddy called for 24-hour legal help across the state. He asked that task forces be set up without delay.

The meeting ended with a resolution to give full legal support to YSRCP candidates from nomination through counting in the local body elections.

NTR district in Andhra Pradesh is preparing for upcoming ZPTC and MPTC elections across 16 mandals. District election authorities have published the final electoral rolls, now available at every mandal headquarters.

The district has 8,35,515 registered voters in total. That includes 4,28,594 women, 4,06,889 men, and 32 third-gender voters. These are big numbers for a newly formed Zilla Parishad.

Vijayawada Rural mandal has the most voters at 1,46,890. Ibrahimpatnam has the fewest, with just 33,759 voters.

Authorities have set up 992 polling stations and are checking basics like drinking water, electricity, toilets, furniture, and ramps for persons with disabilities. A total of 3,321 ballot boxes are ready. Election materials have been procured from the Government Regional Printing Press in Kurnool.

7,190 polling personnel have been selected for election duties. This includes 16 Returning Officers and 1,190 Presiding Officers. Revenue and police officials are working together to find sensitive polling stations and set up proper security.

Nomination and election details

Nominations for ZPTC seats will be accepted at the Krishna Zilla Parishad office in Machilipatnam. For MPTC seats, nominations will be received at respective Mandal Praja Parishad offices.

Voters in the district will elect 16 ZPTC members and 280 MPTC members once the election schedule is announced.

Supreme Court has said there is nothing wrong in removing names of dead persons, those who shifted out of a ward, and duplicate entries during Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, refused to hear YSR Congress Party's appeal against Andhra Pradesh High Court's decision. The HC had turned down the party's request to delay local body elections until the SIR of electoral rolls is completed.

The bench said clearly that SIR is required. People who have died or moved away cannot be allowed to vote in their old wards. Duplicate names also need to be removed. These are exactly the problems that SIR is meant to fix.

Which Voter List Will Be Used

On the question of which voter list will be used, the court said elections will be held based on the final voter list available on the date Election Commission notifies the polls. If the post-SIR rolls are not published before the election notification, the EC may use the voter list finalised on January 1, 2026.

Andhra Pradesh High Court had directed finalisation of the post-SIR voter list by October 16. State Election Commission told the court that election dates have not been notified yet, and it would be bound to use whatever final list is available on the notification date.

CPI and CPI(M) held separate protests in Visakhapatnam on Friday. Both parties demanded that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down and that the special intensive revision (SIR) process stop immediately. They claim crores of names have been removed from voter lists, taking away people's right to vote.

CPI(M) rally turns into dharna

CPI(M) activists walked from their district office in Pithapuram Colony to the National Highway at Maddilapalem and held a dharna there. District leaders B. Ganga Rao and P. Mani said the Election Commission is hurting democratic values. They asked for the SIR process to be scrapped at once.

CPI demands judicial inquiry

CPI held a separate protest near Mettumuthyalamma Temple in Kancharapalem under the North Assembly constituency. District assistant secretary Patrapalli Chandrasekhar asked for the CEC's resignation, a judicial inquiry into problems with the electoral process, and for deleted names to be added back to voter lists.

Leaders like RKSV Kumar, V. Krishna Rao, and Neyyala Nagabhushan Rao were part of the protests. They said Left parties, along with student and youth groups, will step up their protests if their demands are not met.

East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh has flagged 1,81,011 voters as unavailable during the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists. Booth level officers went door to door from June 15 to July 24. These names were not found at their assigned addresses.

Collector Kirthi Chekuri confirmed the reasons behind these absences vary. Some voters may have passed away, shifted permanently, migrated elsewhere, or could not be traced. The district administration is running a re-verification process before the final electoral roll is published on October 16.

Constituency-Wise Numbers

The breakdown by constituency shows big numbers:

• Rajamahendravaram urban: 52,664 voters found ineligible
• Rajamahendravaram Rural: 38,575
• Anaparthi: 21,087 deletions
• Mandapeta: 16,622
• Gopalapuram: 16,481
• Nidadavole: 13,731
• Rajanagaram: 11,434
• Kovvur: 11,122

If your name was removed by mistake, you can re-register using Form-6. The collector has asked every eligible voter to check their name and act before the deadline. Do not leave it for the last day.

Re-verification follows Election Commission's rule that no eligible person should stay off the final list. Final voter list will be published on October 16.

Election officials in Visakhapatnam are running a special review of electoral rolls. They want to check doubtful entries, fix voter details, and make sure no eligible voter gets wrongly removed from the list.

Roll Observer S. Bhargavi told officials to do field checks for rejected applications and doubtful cases instead of just relying on records. Booth Level Officers have been asked to visit homes where needed. They will check if voters still live at their registered addresses and spot any mismatches.

Special attention will go to areas with unusually high additions or deletions, mismatched door numbers, and sudden changes in voter information. No name will be deleted unless a clear reason is recorded first.

Missed your name? Here is what you can do.

If your name is missing from the electoral roll, you can apply for inclusion through Form 6. Election authorities will verify it first. Check your voter details early. Better safe than sorry.

You can search the electoral roll and access all voter services on the official Election Commission of India portal: https://voters.eci.gov.in/

Supreme Court has cleared the way for local body elections in Andhra Pradesh. State Election Commission told the court it is ready to issue the election notification within the six-week period set by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Directions set out which electoral roll should apply. If the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process is complete by the time the notification is issued, elections must be held using the revised electoral roll. If the process is not complete, the existing voter list must be used.

Election Notification Timeline

Source: Hans India

Supreme Court has dismissed Andhra Pradesh government's appeal against the High Court order that struck down 34 per cent reservation for backward classes in local body elections.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu said the Andhra Pradesh High Court had passed a reasonable order in the matter.

On 1 October 2026, the High Court struck down two government orders providing the quota, saying it went against Supreme Court guidelines that set the total reservation limit at 50 per cent.

Local body polls in Andhra Pradesh are on track

The High Court also told the state government and State Election Commission to start the election process within six weeks. So local body polls in Andhra Pradesh are now moving forward.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced the 34 per cent quota for backward classes on 18 August. He said it was part of the coalition government's political principle and the NDA's promise to give reservations in nominated posts.

With inputs from PTI

State Election Commission (SEC) has kept the election machinery on standby for local body polls in Andhra Pradesh. State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha told officials to stay ready to act quickly once legal and reservation-related issues are cleared.

Punetha held a video conference with district officials and city police commissioners to check preparedness for municipalities, gram panchayats, MPTCs and ZPTCs. The meeting covered logistics for ballot boxes, ballot paper printing, law-and-order arrangements and polling station data. Under local body election laws, the full process from notification to declaration of results must be finished within 15 days.

When Will Polls Happen

Election timing depends on Supreme Court proceedings and the State government finishing its reservation work. Municipal administration and panchayat raj departments must finalise reservations and send details to SEC before schedules can be worked out. The tentative plan is municipal elections first, then MPTC and ZPTC elections, followed by gram panchayat polls. State government wants the whole election process done by December 25, though SEC has not officially announced this as its deadline.

Visakhapatnam and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts have started getting ready for the local body elections. Andhra Pradesh State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha chaired a video conference on October 8 to review the arrangements.

Election Commission has asked district administrations to set up polling stations, assign staff, and arrange materials and logistics well in advance. Officials have also been told to speed up ward reorganisation in urban areas following court directions and finish electoral-roll work as per the given rules.

Police have been asked to spot sensitive and at-risk areas in advance. Personnel posted for election duty must get proper training. Districts also need to send proposals for holding polling in phases.

In Visakhapatnam, Collector A. Abhishikth Kishore said the administration has already checked the arrangements. Everything is in place to conduct the elections smoothly once the notification is out. GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg, Additional Commissioners, and the Zilla Parishad Deputy Chief Executive Officer were part of the review meeting.

In ASR district, officials have been told to start early preparations and keep coordination between departments running well. Election Commission has warned both officials and the public to not believe unofficial election schedules or social-media rumours. Only official notifications and guidelines should be taken as real.

Congress leaders in Tirupati staged a protest on Thursday against the detention of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in Delhi. Wearing black clothes, they gathered at the Gandhi statue to condemn the police action.

Gowdapera Chittibabu, the Tirupati Urban district president, called the detention undemocratic and a black day for Indian democracy. He stated that the leaders were detained while protesting near Jantar Mantar against alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls.

Complaint against Election Commission

The protest was held following a call from the AICC and APCC. Leaders said the Election Commission failed to correct mistakes in the voter list. They allege the revision process favored the BJP.

Chittibabu demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He warned that their movement will continue until the demand is met, describing the struggle as a movement to protect the Constitution.

Final electoral rolls for Andhra Pradesh under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 will be published on October 16. A big verification check is already going on.

Election Commission has started a new drive to recheck 46,62,583 electors flagged during the revision. These names were flagged for reasons like death, permanent migration, multiple entries and people who could not be found.

Door-to-door checks are on

Booth Level Officers, or BLOs, have been doing door-to-door checks since Thursday. They are going to registered addresses with polling-station-wise lists. The goal is to make sure no real voter was dropped from the rolls by mistake.

Chief Electoral Officer E O Vivek Yadav said the goal is simple. No eligible voter should be left out, and no ineligible name should stay on the final list. The effort here looks serious about meeting that standard.

During the earlier counting phase from June 15 to July 24, BLOs found 44,89,512 electors not at their registered addresses. After removing those entries, the draft rolls published on July 31 had 3,71,38,182 electors. Another 1,73,071 names were found ineligible during the notice phase as of October 6.

If a BLO finds that a name was deleted by mistake, they will help the voter file Form-6 to get it back. Once the application is checked, the name can be restored through continuous updates.

Worried your name might be missing? Do not panic just yet. Even if your name is not on the final roll published on October 16, do not give up. You can still apply through Form-6 during the continuous update period. The system has four qualifying dates each year: January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1.

The Annual Summary Revision uses January 1 of the following year as its qualifying date. Eligible citizens who missed earlier rounds can keep applying without losing the chance to vote in future elections.

Voters across the state should keep their documents ready and check their status. If they have any doubt, they should contact their local BLO. The verification window is short but it matters.