Odisha Set For Kotia Showdown With Andhra In Supreme Court Tomorrow

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Crores of Odias will have their eyes fixed tomorrow as the State government locks its horns with its Andhra counterpart over the escalating border dispute pertaining to Kotia region in Koraput district.

Close on the heels of the Andhra Pradesh government filing an affidavit in the apex court citing that it has been conducting elections in the Kotia region since 1952, a legal team from Odisha is also said to have prepared a strong case to put up a decisive fight against the neighbouring state.

As per the petition filed by Vijayanagaram Collector MH Jawaharlal, the AP government has been carrying out polls in Ganjeibadra, Patuchinauru, Paguluchinauru villages under Kotia GP since 1952.

AP government has argued that the aforesaid villages come under the jurisdiction of Araku Parliamentary constituency and Saleru Assembly segment.

The villages reportedly took part in the 2006 and 2013 rural polls and also in the 2014 and 2019 general elections.

Meanwhile, sources said that the Odisha government has finalised substantial documents to prove that Kotia villages are an inseparable part of the State. To counter the Andhra argument, the State government will reportedly file the census data of 2011 pertaining to the region and the election statistics of the year 2014 and 2019.

The government will also remind the court about the contempt of its earlier order of 1968 and 2006 to ensure maintenance of the status quo in the Kotia region.

Niranjan Sahu, a member of the legal team from the State has termed Andhra Pradesh government's arguments in the Supreme Court as false and an act akin to staying in 'Fool's Paradise'.

"We have planned our strategy to defy Andhra's attempts to claim our region as theirs and hope to come out successfully," he said.

Meanwhile, the response of the Andhra government in the Supreme Court has triggered a political backlash in Odisha with the Opposition wasting no time to target the ruling-BJD.

Members of the opposition BJP and Congress even boycotted the inaugural day of the budget session 2021 which was addressed by Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal. The Opposition leaders have asked the government to call for an all-party meeting to discuss the issue and prepare a final consensus.

Leader of Opposition, Pradipta Naik stressed on chief ministerial-level talks between Naveen Patnaik and his Andhra counterpart to resolve the issue through mutual agreement on the joint verification map of the disputed area.

Congress MLA Tara Bahinipati said both the Odisha government and the Centre are to be blamed for the escalation in border dispute.

Local BJD MLA Pritam Padhi has also corroborated with the State government and claimed that Kotia residents had voted for him during the 2019 general elections.

Padhi said that Kotia was, is and always will be a part of Odisha. "People of Kotia had voted me to power and also had taken part in elections times before," he said.

Revenue Minister Sudam Marndi said Odisha is taking extremely serious note of each development in the region and battle-ready to win the case.