200 Ganjam villagers may cast votes in AP rural polls

BERHAMPUR: Around 200 voters from eight villages of Ganjam’s Patrapur block are likely to cast their votes in the panchayat elections in Andhra Pradesh, to be held on February 13.
Some locals of the bordering villages, including Gudipadar and Balarampur in Gudipadara panchayat as well as Sabaradeipeta, Saradhapur, E.Berhapur and Jeypore of B.Nuagaon panchayat, have their names in the voters’ list of Andhra and might cast their votes in the upcoming panchayat elections in Tulasigaon and T.Berhampur panchayats across the border.
Similarly, some villagers of Kuladi and Banjuasahi in Tumba panchayat are also likely to take part in the rural poll process.
A similar situation has developed at Kotia in Koraput districts where some villagers have been registered to cast their votes in the forthcoming panchayat elections in Andhra. Till recently, there were no panchayat polls in Andhra, as members used to be nominated. But the system has now changed.
Sources, however, said contestants from Andhra were not allowed to campaign in Ganjam. “We are also appealing to the voters from our villages not to take part in the panchayat elections in the neighbouring state,” said Y Mohan Rao, sarpanch of Gudipadar panchayat.
“I have asked the sub-collector, Berhampur, to talk to his counterpart from Ichhapur in Andhra Pradesh and try and resolve the issue,” said Ganjam collector Vijay Amruta Kulange when asked about it. A district officer said the block development officer and tehsildar of Patrapur block would visit the border villages before the panchayat elections to ascertain facts and convince the villagers not to take part in the electoral process.