Andhra Pradesh local body polls: TDP-led NDA wrests 12 of 13 Mayor posts; Anantapur only solace for YSRCP

On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, police officers from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were involved in a physical altercation at the inter-state border in order to assert their respective claims of jurisdiction over the Kotia villages in Odisha's Koraput district. This dispute has become particularly pressing due to the upcoming November 5 local elections in the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), which Andhra Pradesh intends to hold in the Kotia region.

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, a group of Andhra Pradesh officials, accompanied by security personnel, attempted to enter Kotia through Neredibalasa, a border village. However, they were halted by Odisha police, who had erected barricades. On Monday, Odisha had previously prevented a truck carrying rice packets from crossing the border.

Both the YSRCP and the TDP claim the disputed border villages to be theirs, and they plan to cast their votes in the November 5 elections. The YSRCP and the TDP both contest the elections in Kotia, with the YSRCP and the TDP both claiming to be the rightful representatives of the residents.

In contrast, the Odisha government maintains that the Kotia group of villages is an inseparable and integral part of Odisha, and a Supreme Court order from 2006 has imposed a status quo, preventing any changes in the situation. On Tuesday, Koraput District Collector Manoj Satyawan Mahajan imposed prohibitory orders within the physical boundaries of all 21 villages of the Kotia gram panchayat, under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.

The all-party coordination meeting held on October 29 in Koraput had also resolved to block polling teams from Andhra Pradesh if they entered Odisha to conduct polls. Odisha Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari alleged that Andhra Pradesh was trying to create a constitutional crisis by holding elections inside Odisha's jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) likened the conflict between the two states to the Indo-Pakistan border and blamed the Union government for the situation, claiming that Odisha is left helpless with the Central government remaining silent. However, Odisha police have attempted to maintain control in the region, deploying seven platoons of police to prevent any untoward incident, and increasing the strength of police force depending on the situation.