Andhra issues rules for direct election of Mayors and municipal chairpersons with five-year terms

The Andhra Pradesh government on 5 September 2026 issued statutory rules and orders for ordinary elections to urban local bodies, paving the way for direct election of Mayors and chairpersons and for the election of ward members. Under the amended municipal laws, Mayors of municipal corporations and chairpersons of municipalities and nagar panchayats will be elected directly by voters whose names figure on the respective electoral rolls. That replaces the earlier system of indirect election by elected members and eligible ex-officio members.

The directly elected Mayor or chairperson will have a five-year term and becomes a member of the corporation or municipality by virtue of holding office. The rules prescribe the full election machinery: notifications, nominations, scrutiny and withdrawal, contesting-candidate lists, symbol allotment, polling agents, postal ballots, ballot papers or electronic voting machines, NOTA, challenged and tendered votes, counting and recounting, declaration of results, and submission of election expenditure accounts.

Separate rules cover election of one Deputy Mayor in each municipal corporation and one vice-chairperson in each municipality or nagar panchayat, replacing the earlier provision for two such posts. Those posts remain indirect elections by eligible elected and ex-officio members. A special meeting to elect the Deputy Mayor must be held within 15 days of the corporation’s first meeting, with parallel quorum, nomination, party-authorisation, show-of-hands and whip provisions for vice-chairpersons.

On the reservation track, a 14-day exercise to identify SC, ST, BC and women voters begins on 8 September in 59 urban local bodies, including Vizianagaram Municipal Corporation and 58 municipalities and nagar panchayats. Final category-wise electoral rolls are scheduled for 21 September. Following recent High Court orders on delimitation, electoral-roll preparation in 41 urban local bodies has been taken up on priority and is expected within about a week. Further action in 23 urban local bodies covered by pending court proceedings will follow High Court orders.

Municipal Administration Minister Ponguru Narayana directed officials to stick to timelines. Principal Secretary S. Suresh Kumar said the department was coordinating with district and municipal authorities and the State Election Commission. Direct election changes who campaigns for the chair — voters, not only councillors — but it does not by itself clear every court file still pending on delimitation and rolls. This cutting records the rules issued on 5 September and the September reservation calendar; it does not invent a notified Form B date or a finished statewide poll schedule.

For Elections desks, 5 September is a rules day, not a polling day. Direct election of Mayors and chairpersons changes the campaign geometry: every voter on the ward roll can choose the head of the urban body, while Deputy Mayors and vice-chairpersons remain an internal, indirect contest. The September 8–21 reservation identification window in 59 urban local bodies is the next operational checkpoint; the 41-ULB roll priority and the 23-ULB court basket remain the legal friction. Hold Minister Ponguru Narayana’s timeline instruction and Principal Secretary S. Suresh Kumar’s coordination line. Do not invent a State Election Commission notification date that was not locked.