The hills are alive with the sound of voting
Kotia, a predominantly tribal gram panchayat that Odisha and Andhra Pradesh both claim, seeks to vote di erently — with two votes to a person, one in each State, in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. Satyasundar Barik nds that even as the matter of territor
ushri Tadingi, 45, sits on a charpoy outside his just-constructed concrete house, at an altitude of 1,200 metres in the heart of the Eastern Ghats along the border of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. As the sun beats down, he contemplates his voting strategy on May 13, the fourth phase of India’s Lok Sabha elections.
“In the morning I will cast my vote in Odisha, and in the afternoon, I will go to the Andhra Pradesh polling booth,” says Mushri, who is from Madkar. Odisha claims this village as a part of the State’s Koraput district and Andhra claims it is part of their Parvathipuram Manyam district. Mushri is nervous about how he is going to do this though, considering the indelible ink will be marked on his nger once he votes the rst time.
As 96.8 crore Indian citizens participate in one of the world’s most extensive elections, 5,510 voters will go to nine polling booths established by Odisha and three by Andhra, in the predominantly tribal Kotia gram panchayat. The jurisdiction of the area is under dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the Supreme Court, and residents are set to vote dierently from the rest of the population, with the anomaly of voting in both States.
Suka Himirka, 36, a Kondh tribesman living in Phatusineri village that also comes under Kotia, is clear: “I will travel 3 km to Phagunsineri, to the Odisha polling booth, to cast my vote. After lunch, I will make my way to the Sikhapurvu polling station, which is 12 km from my home, in Andhra Pradesh,” he says.
As is the understanding that voting in both Odisha and Andhra polling booths is important for double the benets — Kotia’s population has two Aadhaar and voting cards and two State governments oer them pensions, rations, and subsidies.
MThe con ict and legal battles
According to the Koraput Gazetteer, a government document last published in 2015 that gives a brief about the area’s history, the jurisdiction dispute arose in March 1955, when some ocials of the Andhra Pradesh government, part of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, tried to collect rent from villagers of Kotia. The Odisha government took up the matter with Andhra in August 1955. The Government of India took note of the dispute when both the States prepared for general election in the disputed villages in 1967. The mediation between the two States by then Union Home Minister Y.V. Chavan failed, and the Odisha government moved the Supreme Court on November 18, 1968.
The Supreme Court had, in 1968, directed the two States to respect the status quo. The Odisha government has maintained that the status quo means it is in control of these villages as all administrative units have been functioning since the State’s formation in 1936. After 2015, Andhra Pradesh started implementing social security schemes vigorously.
While both State governments claim to oer many benets, the area has largely remained underdeveloped. In 2018, under the leadership of S.P. Thakur, then chief administrator of KBK (Koraput-Balangir-Kalahandi), the Odisha government formed the Inter Departmental Committee to assess welfare activities. The committee observed that students from Kotia could only reach a high school after a 12-km journey, with some villages lacking accessible roads altogether.
With criticism growing within the State, of Odisha losing control of Kotia, the Naveen Patnaik government allocated ¥150 crore through a special package to enhance the infrastructure in Kotia panchayat. This led to the setting up of a community health centre, a police station, a bank, a residential English-medium school, separate hostels for students, and even a helipad.
The tension between the two States escalated when Andhra established polling booths in Kotia villages and conducted direct panchayat elections in some villages in 2021, disregarding Odisha’s objections. A.P. renamed Talaganjeipadar to Ganjayibhadra and Phagunsineri to Paguluchennuru, thereby creating two new panchayats. Then Koraput Collector Abdal Akhtar told his counterparts the matter was sub judice and that A.P. should desist from conducting elections.
In 2022, Odisha proceeded to conduct panchayat elections in the same villages. In both State elections, Kotia’s voters participated and elected their representatives, with one representing Odisha and two representing Andhra. Two sarpanches from A.P. approached the Supreme Court in 2022, seeking an order to invalidate the Odisha elections and declare the 21 villages as part of Salur mandal as part of Vizianagaram district, A.P. However, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Surya Kant declined to entertain the petition. The dispute has remained conned to written correspondence and legal battles in the Supreme Court.
The 2024 election battle
The Chief Electoral Ocer of Odisha, Nikunja Bihari Dhal, says, “Odisha has been traditionally holding elections in the villages and Kotia had polled above 65% in 2014 and 2019 general elections.”
Keerthi Vasan, Koraput District Collector, says, “In the run-up to the elections, we had carried out voter awareness programmes by holding rangoli competition among women and taking the youth on a trekking expedition to Deomali mountain top.”
Meanwhile, campaigning has gained momentum after ling and scrutiny of nomination of candidates. Political leaders from Odisha are campaigning in the area with commitments of preventing it from slipping under the administrative control of another State.
Ramachandra Kadam, a Congress candidate for Pottangi Assembly constituency, the voting of which is also on May 13, says, “The escalation of the con©ict occurred three years ago. Odisha must seal its borders and ensure that no ‘unauthorised’ people from the A.P. side in©uence voters.”
Prafulla Pangi, the candidate elded by the Biju Janata Dal, sees no problem with the desire of Kotia voters to cast their votes twice on May 13. “The Naveen Patnaik government has already spent on the improvement of infrastructure and the livelihood of Kotia villagers. I see no reason why the people of Odisha would not vote for us,” Pangi says.
Peedika Rajanna Dora, A.P. Deputy Chief Minister, who represents Salur Assembly constituency, says he had written to the Chief Election Commission and Chief Electoral Ofcer of Andhra Pradesh seeking deployment of a separate force in Kotia to ensure smooth conduct of elections. “I fear voters may forcefully be prevented from voting. It happened earlier and it could happen this time also,” Dora said, speaking to reporters, in April.
Two States, two votes
Kotia villagers get a number of welfare schemes from both States. “From the A.P. side, we get annual assistance such as study support of ¥15,000, a cash benet of ¥14,000 per every individual forest rights card holder, and ¥20,000 for women between 45 and 60,” says Sundhuru Tadingi of Madkar village. Besides a monthly old-age pension of ¥3,000 per family, there’s also ¥3,000 per person per month for those in the region. Then there’s free electricity and interest-free loans for self-help groups.
The Odisha government focuses on physical infrastructure, and also pays a monthly old-age pension of ¥1,000 per person, an annual assistance of ¥10,000 under KALIA or Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation, a farmerwelfare package. Housebuilding assistance is oered from both States.
Sudana Arika, 70, a resident of Phagunsineri, says, “We couldn’t ask for more. The A.P. government supplies a comprehensive monthly ration, encompassing over 15 commodities, from sugar and dal to detergent and turmeric. Odisha government’s nancial benets are not bad either.”
Mushri, articulating the sentiments of many, says, “When we go to an Odisha polling booth on the morning of May 13, our only condition will be that we don’t get inked. If our index nger is marked by the indelible purple-black, we will lose the opportunity to vote for the Andhra Pradesh candidates later in the day.”
Sundhuru says, “Our village has resolved to boycott the elections if coercion is exerted to ink us in the morning.” Residents across locations like Phagunsineri, Phatusineri, and Doliamba raise a similar demand — the right to vote in both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh polling booths.
Election managers laugh o the demand for double voting. “It is not feasible. No voter will be allowed to leave polling booths without being marked with ink. It leaves no doubt that this demand is absurd,” says N. Thirumala Naik, Additional Chief Electoral Ocer of Odisha and nodal ocer for the general election, 2024.
Sukar Himirka in Phatusineri village asserts, “We have been voting for candidates from both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh for decades. We will continue to do so.”
Gadadhar Parida, former District Collector of Koraput, feels that land is not about just marking territory. “We must look at territorial integrity. The dispute must be settled keeping the history of geographical jurisdiction over Kotia in mind.”