KOLKATA: The West Bengal government is keen on holding Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections during the first half of March, a senior state election commission (SEC) official said on Tuesday.
Civic polls were slated to be held in April 2020, but the state government deferred the process owing to the COVID- 19 pandemic.
"The state government informed us that it is ready to hold KMC polls once the Election Commission of India publishes the final electoral roll and the state election commission adopts it. After that, the state will be able to hold the polls in four to six weeks, provided the COVID situation doesn't worsen," the SEC official said.
The ECI is likely to publish its electoral roll on January 15, he said "So if you calculate four to six weeks, it would be during the first or second week of March, he explained. Asked about elections to other municipalities, the official said, Only information about KMC was communicated."
The opposition BJP had met SEC officials in October and demanded that KMC elections be held before assembly polls.
Elections to 107 municipalities of the state and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) are being viewed as a litmus test for the TMC and the BJP, ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls, likely to be held in April-May.