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Kolkata: Three weeks from now, the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party will face off in West Bengal as municipal elections will be held in the capital Kolkata after six years.
About 40 lakh voters are eligible to vote for the election of councilors in 144 wards on December 19, State The Election Commission announced on Thursday The result is expected to be declared two days later on December 21.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has been run by the Trinamool since 2010, even before coming to power in the state in 2011. But elections have not been held since 2015, last year’s scheduled elections were postponed due to Covid-19. global pandemic.
The announcement of the Kolkata civic polls came on a day when the Trinamool and the BJP are facing each other in the municipal elections in the state of Tripura. The run-up for 222 seats for these elections has surrounded With the Trinamool’s debut, allegations of rigging, violence and booth-capturing clashed with the ruling BJP. The political battle had reached the Supreme Court, Where TMC pleaded for postponement of elections due to law and order situation.
Read also: 2 Bengal elections story: Opposition demands municipal elections, but Trinamool wants by-polls first
How KMC ran without elections
Elections to 112 municipalities in West Bengal are pending for almost two years due to the COVID pandemic. In March 2020, in an all-party meeting chaired by Mamata Banerjee, it was decided to postpone the municipal elections indefinitely.
On 6 May 2020, the West Bengal government notified a 14-member board of administrators to run the KMC and appointed Mayor Firhad Hakim as its chairman. This was necessary as the Kolkata civic elections were last held on 8 May 2015, and its five-year term ended on 7 May 2020. The Board of Administrators got an extension from the Kolkata High Court in July 2020.
CPI(M) leader and former Kolkata mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya told ThePrint that the state government’s decision to appoint a board of administrators was “undemocratic and unconstitutional”.
“For small political gains, it has put its political ministers on top. Now, he has announced the elections on December 19 after ensuring his party’s electoral machinery, leaving no time for the opposition to prepare,” he alleged.
What’s at stake now?
The KMC election will be the first in May 2021 after the Trinamool retained power with an overwhelming majority over the BJP.
All eyes are on whom party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee chooses as the mayoral candidate, as the party has adopted a policy of ‘one person, one post’.
This will be its first test on BJP’s front. Sukant Majumdar appointed as the new state president after the defeat in the assembly elections. The BJP, however, is grappling with sporadic infighting and frequent exodus to the Trinamool. Five sitting BJP MLAs, a former Union minister and several popular leaders and grassroots workers have left the party and joined the rival camp. In March 2020, when the BJP started preparations for the KMC elections, which were later postponed, it had boxed up its office in central Kolkata demanding candidates to fight under its banner.
Meanwhile, the CPI(M) and the Congress are yet to decide whether they will continue their alliance and fight the KMC elections together. Their partnership remained vacant in the assembly elections.
BJP’s appeal to HC
The BJP had appealed to the Calcutta High Court seeking simultaneous elections in all the 112 municipalities where they are due. The court is scheduled to hear the matter on November 29.
BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said in a press conference: “The State Election Commission in West Bengal has been completely politicised. We do not believe that elections will be held in phases in a free and fair manner. We will wait till November 29 and are ready to go to the Supreme Court if needed.
(Edited by Saikat Niyogi)
Read also: Trinamool’s eyes on expansion, Mamta includes Kirti Azad, Pavan Varma, Ashok Tanwar on Delhi tour
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