Morning Pulse: Andhra's alliance sits down to split the seats as the poll clock starts

Since last night, Andhra Pradesh's local body elections have moved from the courtroom to the party office. The legal fight over the BC quota is over. What remains is arithmetic: which posts are reserved for whom, and which alliance partner gets to field candidates in them. Both questions are due to be answered this week, with today carrying much of the load.

The ground rules arrived on Sunday. The Municipal Administration department issued GO Ms No 251, signed by Principal Secretary S Suresh Kumar, setting BC reservations for corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats on the basis of the Rajiv Ranjan Mishra Commission's report. The Panchayat Raj department issued a parallel order for rural bodies. Both keep combined SC, ST and BC reservations within 50 per cent, allot seats in the order ST, SC, then BC, and fix BC shares body by body rather than at one statewide rate. Mayor and chairperson posts will rotate from the 2021 cycle, while redrawn wards start a fresh one. The government has said a single statewide rate could have invited another court challenge.

The approved shares vary by tier. They run from about 23 per cent for zilla parishad chairpersons to about 35 per cent for mayors, according to figures carried by The Hans India. For one district pair, the paper's estimate is that BCs could get about 76 of 230 urban wards in NTR district and about 71 of 216 in Krishna. Those numbers will shift once district collectors publish the official roster. Telugu dailies report that the reservations for mayor and chairperson posts, followed by ward lists, are to be finalised from today.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has moved to fill the gap between the legal quota and his party's old promise of 34 per cent. In a virtual meeting with ministers, MPs, MLAs and constituency in-charges on Sunday, he said the TDP would aim to give about 40 per cent of its own tickets to BC candidates. That is a step up from the "more than 34 per cent" pledge covered last evening. He told leaders that candidates would be picked for winnability and that their own performance would be rated on vote share. He also asked for TDP, Jana Sena and BJP coordination committees at constituency and district level, and for a 50-day campaign.

That coordination gets its first real test this afternoon. Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and BJP state president Madhav are scheduled to meet at 4 pm at the Chief Minister's residence at Undavalli to settle seat-sharing for corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats. Jana Sena and the BJP have already handed in lists of the seats they want. Telugu outlets have published names of mayor posts said to be going to the smaller partners, but no party has confirmed any allocation.

The State Election Commission's timeline has also come into sharper focus. Earlier reports had pointed to a possible meeting with parties on Monday. Andhra Jyothy and Oneindia Telugu now put it at 11.30 am on Tuesday, 13 October, at the SEC office in Vijayawada, with all recognised parties invited. The municipal schedule is expected on Wednesday, 14 October, and the MPTC and ZPTC schedule a few days later. Gram panchayat polls would come last, in November. None of these dates is official until State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha announces them.

The opposition's line has not changed overnight. YSRCP BC cell working president Ramesh Goud said on Sunday evening that party-level ticket promises are no substitute for seats reserved by law, which protect BC candidates of every party. He said the coalition should seek a constitutional amendment through the NDA. The YSRCP points to its own record of BC mayors and zilla parishad chairs between 2019 and 2024. The TDP, in turn, accuses the YSRCP of going to court to delay the polls.

Away from the ballot, the Enforcement Directorate's money-trail probe into the 2019 murder of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy reaches Devireddy Sivashankar Reddy today. Telugu Post and Andhra Jyothy report that he has been asked to appear at the ED office in Hyderabad. Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy is due on 14 October. On Tuesday, the Telangana High Court takes up the ED's plea for a day-to-day trial in the older assets cases against Jagan Mohan Reddy. The court has said it will hear the plea alongside a pending PIL.

In Vijayawada, Dasara Navaratri celebrations have begun on Indrakeeladri, with more than a lakh devotees on the first day, ETV Bharat reported. The Chief Minister reviewed festival arrangements on Sunday. The poll schedule will land in the middle of the festival season.