Pottangi: Amid heightened tensions and heavy police deployment along the disputed Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border, residents of Odisha’s Kotia cluster of villages in Koraput district voted in Andhra Pradesh’s three-tier panchayat elections Thursday.
The polling booths had been shifted away from the disputed territory following objections from the Odisha administration. The polling had triggered a fresh face-off between the two states, with Koraput authorities opposing Andhra Pradesh’s move to set up a polling booth at Neredivalsa, arguing that the village fell within Odisha’s territorial jurisdiction. Andhra Pradesh authorities subsequently relocated the polling booths to their side of the border.
Police personnel from both states were deployed along the contentious stretch to prevent any untoward incidents. Koraput district officials said the administration had not stopped anyone from voting, as exercising the franchise was a constitutional right.
However, they maintained that voters must participate voluntarily and without coercion. With around 4,500 voters in the Kotia region, officials said it was difficult to ascertain how many had voted in the Andhra Pradesh elections. Some residents had exercised their franchise, they added, while reporting that no untoward incidents had occurred.
The territorial dispute involving 21 villages in the Ko tia cluster dates back to 1955, following the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1953. Odisha approached the Supreme Court in 1968 to assert its claim over the territory. In 2006, the apex court ordered the maintenance of status quo and called for an amicable settlement through an appropriate authority in accordance with the law.
The dispute resurfaced in 2021 when Andhra Pradesh notified panchayat elections in the contested villages, prompting Odisha to move the Supreme Court with a contempt petition alleging a violation of the status quo order. Odisha approached the apex court again in 2023, seeking adjudication of the dispute.
On October 23, 2026, it filed another contempt petition after Andhra Pradesh issued a fresh election notification for the disputed areas. Despite the prolonged territorial dispute, residents of Kotia continue to receive development and welfare benefits from both states, including social security assistance and improvements to road and educational infrastructure.
