EC NOTIFICATION FOR BENGAL CIVIC POLLS SOON

The West Bengal Election Commission started preparations for the three municipal polls. It has recently come to light that the state government is keen to hold pre-polls in Kolkata, Howrah and Bidhannagar before Christmas in the third week of December.

However, neither the Election Commission nor any representative of the state government has publicly acknowledged this. But in the words of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, there was a hint that the vote could take place as soon as the festive season is over.

After winning the Bhabanipur by-election, she said efforts would be made to expedite the state’s municipal polls. After receiving such an indication from the Chief Minister, the State Election Commission has started tidying up the houses like themselves. According to sources, the polls of three municipalities may be held on December 12 or 19.

The Election Commission wants to end the voting in these three municipalities before the Christmas holidays. It will be able to complete a long-pending phase of the pre-vote. At the same time, the rest of the municipalities can go a long way in preparing for the polls.

According to the source, if the chatpujo is completed, the notification of voting may be issued on behalf of the commission. Incidentally, the Election Commission started preparations for the pre-poll in February 2020. But due to the corona infection, all the preparations got stuck. The pre-poll also went back. But at that time, the work of preparing for the referendum, including the rearrangement of seats, went ahead.

Therefore, according to the sources of the commission, they will not have to get too much speed in the preparation of the vote this time. “Our initial preparations were completed in March last year,” said an Election Commission official. But as the vote was delayed, we could no longer move forward. But with the vote in the third week of December, we have started preparations again. However, in the case of voting, there are some things that cannot be started unless the vote is declared. So as soon as the vote is announced, the work will start,” he said, adding,“Since the vote will be held in Kolkata, Howrah and Bidhannagar. So, it doesn’t seem like too much pressure will fall on us. I think the rest of the municipal polls will be held next year.”

It is to be noted that there are about one and a half years left for voting in Kolkata. It has been under the purview of the city administrator since May 2020. Howrah Municipality is again being managed by the Municipal Administration from October 2016.