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Kolkata:
Kolkata municipal elections – to have been held in April however postponed due to the Covid pandemic – could also be held by the tip of March subsequent yr, weeks earlier than the 2021 Assembly polls.
The Trinamool Congress had an amazing majority within the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) after the final election, however the civic physique has since been dissolved and is run by a state-appointed board of directors, with the previous mayor appearing as Chairman.
The Urban Affairs division wrote to the state election fee (WBSEC) Tuesday, saying elections could possibly be held 4 to 6 weeks of publication of ultimate electoral rolls on January 15.
No dates have been advised, to this point, for pending elections to 107 different civic our bodies throughout the state. The Trinamool controls about 95 per cent of the civic our bodies in Bengal.
Analysts say civic physique polls now could be like a mini-Assembly election in a state that’s already seeing bitter and, oftentimes, vitriolic campaigning by the Trinamool and its main opposition – the BJP, which claims the ruling occasion is attempting to keep away from holding elections for concern of shedding.
The Bengal authorities’s letter to the WBSEC comes two days forward a deadline of kinds, laid down by the Supreme Court, to both resolve polling dates or set up court-appointed directors.
This case is scheduled to be heard on Thursday.
Two instances had been filed on the Calcutta High Court, individually, by BJP leaders in September, based on lawyer Brajesh Jha. The instances problem the delay in holding civic polls.
Both the only and division benches accepted the state’s plea – that the Covid pandemic was making the conduct of elections tough. Unsatisfied, in October the BJP wrote to the WBSEC and demanded the pending civic polls be held. The petitioners went to Supreme Court.
Bengal’s Urban Affairs minister, Firhad Hakim, has stated the Trinamool is at all times able to face an election that, he stated, would have been held on schedule had the pandemic not struck.
“The Supreme Court asked the government when elections will be held. Otherwise administrators will be appointed. That’s why the state is looking for poll dates,” Dilip Ghosh, the Bengal BJP chief, stated.
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