Farmers Movement Archive

‘Want to hold 6-8 phase civic polls in May’: Bengal election commission tells Calcutta HC

The West Bengal state election commission (SEC) on Monday told a Calcutta high court division bench that it wants to hold elections in the state’s 120-odd municipal corporations and municipalities in six to eight phases till May next year. The SEC submitted the tentative plan in an affidavit before the division bench of chief justice Prakash Shrivastava and justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj which is hearing a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state vice-president Pratap Banerjee seeking simultaneous election in all civic bodies on a single day.During the last hearing on December 1, the bench directed the SEC to file a report by December 6 on how it plans to hold civic body elections in the state’s remaining 22 districts after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) polls are held on December 19.The bench also took on record the affidavit filed by the SEC and the state government that opposed the BJP’s demand, citing logistical problems and the Covid pandemic. The matter will be heard again on Tuesday since the petitioner did not receive a copy of the SEC’s response on time, lawyers said. Though there was no hearing on Monday, the chief justice inquired why the SEC wants to hold the polls in May since it had indicated during an earlier hearing that the process might be completed by April.The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) controls most of the civic bodies in Bengal. The terms of the elected boards ended over the last two years but elections were not held because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government appointed the elected heads of the civic boards as administrators as a stop-gap measure. The state government wants to hold the polls in phases. It had planned to hold the elections in Kolkata and Howrah town on December 19 but the BJP moved the high court demanding simultaneous polls in all civic bodies.The government also recently announced that the Howrah corporation zone will be split so that a new civic body can be formed at Bally. Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, however, did not sign the bill that the state assembly passed to give effect to this decision. He sent it back to the assembly speaker with 18 queries. The civic polls have once again intensified the acrimony between the Raj Bhawan and the TMC government.On December 2, Dhankhar told state election commissioner Saurav Das for the second time that he should not play any partisan role in the coming elections and wanted to know if the SEC would deploy Central armed police forces, a demand the BJP has also made. Das was scheduled to report to the governor on Monday but the SEC sought time since the matter was being heard by the high court. The governor once again summoned Das, asking him to submit a full report on Tuesday, Raj Bhawan officials said.BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar alleged that the SEC is trying to postpone the civic polls till April because it suits the ruling party. “The SEC is completely controlled by the TMC government. We are not surprised by these tactics,” said Majumdar. The TMC, on the other hand, accused the governor of helping the BJP.“I beg the governor not to act at the behest of the BJP. You (Dhankhar) hold a prestigious post. Following the state BJP president and Suvendu Adhikari (leader of the opposition in the assembly) does not suit you,” said the transport minister and former Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim who is contesting the Kolkata polls. Assembly speaker Biman Banerjee accused the governor of delaying the polls in Howrah.“If the President of India can clear the three controversial farm bills overnight and also quickly give his assent to the withdrawal of these bills why cannot the governor clear a bill related to Howrah? It is because of him that the civic polls in Howrah could not be held,” said the speaker. The governor reacted to the speaker’s remark while interacting with the media on Monday.“It is most unfortunate that the speaker continues to ignore the Constitution and sense of propriety. In November, I had asked for some important documents regarding the Howrah municipal corporation bill. Why has he not produced these till now? ” said Dhankhar.On December 1, advocate Pinky Anand, who is representing BJP’s Pratap Banerjee, argued before the court that the SEC was deliberately staggering the election process at the behest of the state government. She argued that elections to the civic bodies were due before the Covid-19 pandemic started and hence these cannot be postponed citing health protocols as the situation has improved drastically. Appearing for the state government on that day, advocate general SN Mookherjee said the KMC polls were being held first because of the better vaccination status of Kolkata residents and healthcare facilities in the city. He also opposed the petition saying there is no constitutional provision that makes simultaneous polls mandatory.

Hindustan Times

06-12-2021

Kolkata