SEC likely to give nod to polls in Kolkata, Howrah municipal corporations on Dec 19: Official

KOLKATA: The West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) is likely to give the go-ahead to elections in the municipal corporations of Kolkata and Howrah on December 19, as desired by the state government, an official said.

The elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), along with 112 other municipalities and municipal corporations, were due in April-May 2020.

But the polls were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We had received a communication from the state government. It wants the elections to be held on December 19. We are yet to respond formally. But most likely, the date for polls to KMC and Howrah Municipal Corporation will be December 19," an SEC official said on condition of anonymity.

The date of counting will be decided later, the official said adding that a notification will be issued when everything is finalised.

The Minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Chandrima Bhattacharya on Tuesday told reporters that the state government is already in the process of holding preliminary talks with the SEC on when to hold elections.

BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh claimed that the TMC had postponed urban local body elections for the past two years, fearing it would lose.

"Now it wants to hold the poll as it has the entire state machinery under control. We can say BJP will do remarkably well if elections are held in municipalities and corporations in a free and fair manner," he said.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader and the head of the KMC Board of Administrators, Firhad Hakim, exuded confidence of winning the polls.

"Our government's good work for the last 10 years will ensure our victory," he said.