In the Eastern Ghats, on the edge of Odisha’s Koraput district, a border quarrel older than the Constitution has flared up again. Andhra Pradesh is preparing to hold rural local body elections in three villages of Kotia gram panchayat, Phagunasineri, Ganjeipadar and Phatusineri, which Odisha regards as its own territory. The move has set off a sharp exchange in Bhubaneswar between Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s BJP government and Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, and it has an awkward national twist: Andhra Pradesh is governed by the TDP, a key partner in the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.
At a glance
- Andhra Pradesh plans local body polls in three Kotia villages that Odisha says belong to its Koraput district.
- Both states claim 21 of the 28 villages in Kotia gram panchayat, and a fresh suit filed by Odisha in January 2022 is still pending in the Supreme Court.
- Naveen Patnaik accuses the BJP government of staying silent, while Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari blames earlier BJD governments and has consulted the Advocate General.
What Andhra Pradesh is planning
On the Andhra side, the 21 disputed villages are administered as part of the Salur tahsil in Parvathipuram Manyam district. Salur tahsildar Suresh Mamidipalli told Deccan Chronicle on 19 October that the elections would go ahead. “We will establish polling booths at Nerallavalasa village with all security,” he said. Voters from the hilltop villages will have to walk down to vote.
According to the same report, the contest covers three MPTC (mandal-level) seats, one ZPTC (district-level) seat and five sarpanch posts. Polling for MPTC and ZPTC seats is set for 3 November. Gram panchayat polls are spread over three phases, on 26 November, 29 November and 2 December, and the tahsildar said Kotia’s turn could fall on any of those dates. Andhra Pradesh’s own figures, quoted in the report, put the area at 1,105 households and a population of 4,349.
Reports differ on how formal the process is so far. Several outlets describe an Andhra Pradesh notification for the three villages. The Odisha news site Pragativadi, writing on 21 October, said a formal notification was still awaited and gave the nomination and withdrawal dates as initial reports only.
How Bhubaneswar reacted, day by day
Monday, 19 October. Patnaik, who is BJD president and Leader of the Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, wrote to Chief Minister Majhi. “What happened to the BJP’s assurances that Kotia belongs to Odisha?” he asked, according to PTI. He recalled the BJP’s pre-2024 promise that a BJP government in Odisha, working with the Centre, would settle the dispute. He also asked what a 16-member Kotia committee set up in 2025 had recommended, The News Minute reported.
Tuesday, 20 October. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari called the letter an “eyewash, an attempt at covering up past mistakes”. He said the issue “has escalated due to the negligence of the previous BJD government headed by Naveen Patnaik”, then offered talks: “We respect your experience. Come forward and let’s resolve the issue together.” Pujari met Advocate General Pitambar Acharya, the Revenue Divisional Commissioner for the southern division and the Koraput collector. “I have asked the RDC and collector to keep a close watch on the Kotia area,” he said.
BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said, “The double-engine government continues to fear the TDP.” Odisha Congress president Bhakta Charan Das also criticised the government.
Wednesday, 21 October. BJP MP Dharmendra Pradhan, posting on X, struck a more conciliatory tone. “Kotia is the identity of Odisha’s sovereignty and indivisibility,” he wrote. “Through dialogue, we must create a friendly atmosphere and pave the way for a solution.” A senior Koraput revenue official told The Hans India that Odisha is preparing another Supreme Court petition.
A dispute with a long paper trail
The table below sets out the main legal milestones, based on court reporting.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1920, 1923, 1927 | Odisha relies on three notifications from these years to argue that the villages fall within its territory. |
| 1968 | Odisha sues Andhra Pradesh in the Supreme Court under Article 131. On 2 December 1968 the court orders status quo, with “no further ingress or egress” on the disputed land. |
| 30 March 2006 | The court dismisses the suit as not maintainable under Article 131. With both states’ consent, it directs that status quo continue, and observes that Parliament is best placed to resolve the dispute. |
| February 2021 | Andhra Pradesh holds panchayat polls in three of the villages on 13 February. Odisha seeks contempt action. Andhra tells the court it “has not taken any step in violation of any Agreement/Direction”. |
| November 2021 | Odisha tells the court the two chief ministers met on 9 November 2021 and agreed to form a committee. |
| January 2022 | Odisha files a fresh suit, which remains under the court’s consideration. |
In its 2021 affidavit, Andhra Pradesh said it was administering its own territory and had held local body elections in these villages ever since its Panchayat Raj law came in. Odisha says the 1968 status quo order still binds both sides. The Supreme Court has never ruled on which state owns the villages.
Who is caught in the middle
For the 4,349 people that Andhra Pradesh counts in the area, the argument is not abstract. The Hans India notes that residents have dual voting status in both states, and Deccan Chronicle reports that they voted in Andhra Pradesh’s 2021 local body elections and in the 2024 general elections. Pujari says he has been to Kotia four times in the past two years and that development works are under way in the area.
The politics have hardened too. The BJP and BJD have released animated videos blaming each other, The Hans India reports, and Pujari has asked what the BJD did about Kotia in its 24 years in power.
What to watch next
- The court route. If Odisha files the new petition its officials have talked about, the key question will be whether the Supreme Court treats Andhra’s polls as a breach of the status quo it recorded in 1968 and 2006.
- The poll calendar. MPTC and ZPTC voting on 3 November comes first. Whether booths at Nerallavalasa open without trouble will be the first real test on the ground.
- Talks. Pradhan and Pujari have both spoken of dialogue. With NDA parties in power in both states, a chief minister-level meeting like the one in 2021 is the obvious next step.
For more on state and national developments, see our India coverage.
Sources
- Deccan Chronicle: AP officials to hold civic polls in Kotia villages (19 Oct 2026)
- The News Minute: Patnaik questions BJP’s silence on Andhra poll notice (20 Oct 2026)
- ThePrint (PTI): BJP hits back at BJD over Kotia poll notification (20 Oct 2026)
- The Hans India: Pujari accuses BJD of failing to resolve Kotia issue (22 Oct 2026)
- The Hans India: Pradhan urges unity to resolve Kotia dispute (23 Oct 2026)
- Pragativadi: Kotia border dispute flares up again (21 Oct 2026)
- Verdictum: Odisha tells Supreme Court CMs agreed on a committee (26 Nov 2021)
- ETV Bharat: Andhra tells SC it has not transgressed (19 Feb 2021)
Drafted with AI assistance; fact-checked and edited by Ajay Mahawar, Taaza Khabar.
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