
Devotees at the Sirimanotsavam of Goddess Pydithalli Ammavaru in Vizianagaram. The city’s Mayor election has been moved to October 29 because of the festival. File | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Vizianagaram mayoral election has been postponed to October 29 because of the Sirimanotsavam to be held on October 27 in the Fort City.
At the request of Collector S. Ramsundar Reddy and other officials, the State Election Commission (SEC) has agreed to hold the election on October 29 instead of October 28, 2026. The Collector said the entire administration would be busy with the annual Sirimanotsavam of Goddess Pydithalli Ammavaru and it would be difficult to hold the election the next day.
The Hindu had reported the issue in “A tough time for the government to hold Sirimanotsavam, Mayor election in Vizianagaram on October 27 and 28”, published on October 15, 2026. The Collector and other officials sent The Hindu article to the SEC, saying the election material could not be moved to polling booths in all 62 divisions of the Corporation on October 27, the day before the originally scheduled poll.

SEC accepted the request of the government and postponed the election for one day. However, the counting of the votes would be done on October 30, 2026 along with other corporations and municipalities.
Polling in the other 99 urban local bodies remains on October 28. The Vizianagaram corporation will elect its Mayor and 62 corporators, and 2,23,050 voters are to cast their votes at 229 polling booths in the city. The Sirimanotsavam, which draws devotees from across Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring States, is preceded by the Vizianagaram Utsavam on October 25 and 26.

Published - October 21, 2026 04:15 pm IST
