Kolkata, Sep 2 (IANS) With a target of completing polls for the different urban civic bodies in West Bengal, including municipal corporations and municipalities in the state, by the end of the year, the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) had convened a crucial meeting later in the day to discuss the preparedness for those elections.
The District Magistrates of the districts where elections for such urban civic body polls will be held have been asked to be present at the meeting. The meeting will review factors such as the prevailing situation in the urban civic bodies and the availability of EVMs for that, among others.
Of the urban civic bodies slated to go for polls by the end of the current calendar year, the most crucial are the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), the oldest municipal corporation in the state and Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC).
Both municipal corporations are currently in the delimitation phase. In KMC, the draft delimitation proposal had suggested increasing the number of wards from 144 to 209, although the final figure is likely to reach 211. In HMC, the draft proposal envisages raising the number of wards from 50 to 68.
As a result, the upcoming elections in the two municipal corporation areas are to be held based on the new ward layout. The increase in the number of wards has brought about major changes in the layout of voters, electoral preparations and administrative management. Political observers consider the reorganisation to be very crucial for the electoral map of these two urban civic bodies, especially in the case of Kolkata.
However, an insider from the WBSEC said the main issue that is keeping the Commission worried about the forthcoming urban civic bodies is the lack of EVMs for that purpose. So, the Commission has already approached the Calcutta High Court in the matter
“Several election petition cases related to the recent West Bengal Assembly polls earlier this year are pending in the Calcutta High Court. In all those cases, the court has ordered the Election Commission of India to preserve EVM machines, VVPATs and other materials from various centres. As a result, the announcement of the municipal body elections might be delayed due to the lack of EVMs. In the wake of such development, we have approached the Calcutta High Court for an urgent hearing in the matter, ” the WBSEC insider said.
An urgent hearing of the case was requested before the division bench of the Calcutta High Court’s Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Atarup Banerjee. The matter is likely to be heard next week.
–IANS
src/dpb
