With the Bengal Government and State Election Commission preparing to hold civic elections to Howrah and Kolkata Municipal Corporations in the month of December the BJP has moved the Calcutta High Court seeking directions for holding simultaneous elections in all the municipalities.
BJP leader Pratap Banerjee on Tuesday filed a petition seeking simultaneous elections to 112 municipal boards including Howrah and Kolkata besides demanding deployment of central forces for the purpose.
The BJP’s move was preceded by a similar petition by the Left Front which too demanded simultaneous elections. The Court is likely to hear all the petitions together.
“The BJP is capable enough to field candidates in all the constituencies provided there is no interference by the Trinamool Congress goons … the ruling party is planning to first hold elections to HMC and KMC where they will loot votes as they did on earlier occasions … after that they will go to other municipal bodies and capture them in a similar fashion … the BJP wants simultaneous elections to all the boards … if it is not possible to do that on logistical grounds then the SEC should be directed to hold phased elections but results must be declared on a single date,” Bengal BJPpresident Sukanto Mondal said.
Elections to 112 municipal boards including Howrah and Kolkata have been pending since 2020 in view of pandemic situations. The boards were currently being run by administrators. “We want central force for the polls which should be held on a single day to prevent electoral malpractices,” Pratap Banerjee said.
Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said that in the current situation where the ruling Trinamool Congress had forcibly captured all the institutions there was no possibility of holding free and fare elections. He said “I have no issues with dates … whether it is held simultaneously or in a phased manner there is hardly any possibility of polls being organized in a free and fare manner because earlier instances have shown how votes are looted in Bengal.”
Meanwhile, armed with a landslide victory in the Assembly elections and a clean sweep in the by-elections the TMC Government has acquiesced to the SEC proposal of holding the elections to Howrah and Kolkata Corporations in December. “If things go as per plans then the elections should be held on December 19 … the State Government has agreed to the proposal and a formal announcement to this effect would soon be made by the SEC,” a Bengal Minister said.