Amid border row, Odisha's Kotia voters participate in Andhra panchayat elections

Bhubaneswar, Nov 5 (UNI) Amid heightened tension and heavy police deployment along the disputed Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border, residents of Odisha's Kotia cluster of villages in Koraput district voted in Andhra Pradesh's three-tier panchayat elections on Thursday, after polling booths were shifted away from the disputed territory following objections by the Odisha administration. The polling had triggered a fresh face-off between the two States, with Koraput authorities opposing Andhra Pradesh's move to set up a booth at Neredivalsa, arguing that the village fell within Odisha's territorial jurisdiction. Andhra authorities subsequently relocated the polling stations to their side of the border. Police…