• Fresh nominations allowed in four ULBs till Oct 24

• Final list of candidates on Oct 25; counting on Nov 3

K Varaprasada Rao Amaravati

TheAP State Election Commission (APSEC) on Thursday rescheduled the municipal election programme across the state, fixing November 1 for polling and November 3 for counting, while extending the nomination process in four Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) where it found that candidates had been prevented from filing their papers because of intimidation, attacks, damage to nomination papers or other adverse circumstances. The revised schedule applies to all 100 ULBs covered by the election programme, including Vizianagaram Municipal Corporation. Earlier, the poll was scheduled for October 28.

In a fresh notification on Thursday night, State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha ordered the reopening of nominations for 48 hours on October 23 and 24 in specified wards of Kadapa Municipal Corporation, Rajampet Municipality and Tirupati Municipal Corporation, and in all 32 wards of Mydukur Municipality.

The SEC's decision follows the Supreme Court's October 21 directions in SLP(C) No. 37476/2026, requiring the Commission to examine complaints by the petitioner party and individual candidates, along with supporting documents and electronic evidence, and decide whether the nomination deadline should be extended wherever candidates were unable to file their papers because of law-and-order problems.

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