Andhra Pradesh: MPP elections on 19 November, ZP chairperson elections on 20 November

The members Andhra Pradesh elected to its mandal and zilla parishads will pick their own leaders next. The State Election Commission has fixed Thursday, 19 November 2026, for electing mandal parishad presidents (MPPs) and Friday, 20 November, for the ZP chairperson elections in the zilla parishads.

The schedule covers 659 mandal praja parishads and 28 zilla praja parishads. Each will hold a special meeting for the purpose, and officials have been told to serve notice of it on every elected MPTC and ZPTC member by Saturday, 14 November.

How election day will run

Nominations will be taken until 10 am on the day and can be withdrawn until 1 pm. At 1 pm the members first elect their co-opted colleagues, one for a mandal parishad and two for a zilla parishad, drawn from religious or linguistic minorities. The election of the president or chairperson begins at 3 pm, and the vice-president or vice-chairperson is chosen only after that post is filled.

Voting is by show of hands. Members of recognised parties must vote as their party whip directs, and a member who defies the whip loses the seat. The whip does not apply to the choice of co-opted members. Each party has to give the presiding officer the name of its whip by 11 am on the day before the election. MPs, MLAs and MLCs will be invited to the meetings but cannot vote.

If the co-opted members cannot be elected, the meeting to choose the president or chairperson stands cancelled. If an election is put off for want of a quorum, it will be held at 3 pm on the following day, even if that day is a holiday. Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS will be in force around the venues, and the commission has allowed video recording, CCTV cameras and live coverage by television channels.

Where the parties stand

The TDP, Jana Sena and BJP alliance won 499 of the 582 ZPTC seats where elections were held: 407 for the TDP, 72 for Jana Sena and 20 for the BJP. The YSRCP took 76 and others seven. Of 7,768 MPTC seats, the alliance won 5,861 and the YSRCP 1,711. In Alluri Sitharama Raju district, the YSRCP has more ZPTC members than the alliance.

The model code of conduct was lifted outside rural areas from 10 pm on 7 November. It stays in force in villages because the gram panchayat elections are still under way, State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said in a statement on Sunday, 8 November. The first phase of panchayat polling is due on 26 November.