Calcutta HC asks Bengal government to conduct municipal polls as early as possible

The Calcutta High Court on Friday (January 29) has asked Bengal government to hold municipal polls in the state as early as possible since the terms of the councillors have long expired.
 

The court said that as far the date or dates for holding the municipal elections are concerned, the decision is to be taken by the State Election Commission and the state government in consultation with each other, fairly and judiciously, taking all logistic factors into consideration.

In this situation, the uneasiness of the state was further increased by the decision of the High Court regarding the pre-vote. A division bench of Justices Indraprasanna Mukherjee and Mohammad Nizamuddin directed to speed up preparations for the polls in 112 municipalities of the state. 
 

The division bench accepted the submission of the State Election Commission that the electoral roll for the municipal elections can only be finalised after the electoral roll for the West Bengal assembly elections in 2021 is finalised.
 

The court has strongly instructed the State Election Commission to scrutinize all the work in preparation for the by-polls. However, Calcutta Municipality is not on the list of the 112 municipalities because the ruling TMC ruling has already filed a case challenging the appointment of the administrator of Calcutta Municipality.
 

SEC counsel Sonal Sinha submitted that at present the State Election Commission is undertaking the task of delineating constituencies and preparation of electoral rolls for the municipal elections.