No sooner than the state election commission agreed with the state government’s proposal to hold civic polls for only Kolkata and Howrah municipal corporations on 19 December, the CPI-M criticised the decision and claimed that the TMC-led state government’s plan to hold polls for only two municipal corporations despite polls impending for around 114 municipal bodies indicates its intention of looting votes to gain victory.

Addressing the Press, the CPI-M spokesperson Sujan Chakraborty alleged that the TMC led state government has been running 17 municipalities illegally by not holding elections to these civic bodies for more than three years.

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“The Mamata government is illegally running at least 17 municipalities in the state for the last three years. This has amounted to corruption which became apparent in cases of fund defalcation in these civic bodies. Time and again the opposition parties have pointed it out to the state government asking it to take necessary action but to no avail.”

Chakraborty said that the state government could have proposed for polls for all the municipal bodies in phases with a gap of two to three days in between but instead it chose to only hold polls for Kolkata and Howrah municipal bodies so “it can loot votes by ferrying in outsiders. It plans to carry out the looting with the help of the police. The TMC government does not have the guts to hold elections to all these civic bodies as it does not believe in free and fair elections.”

Commenting on the state government’s proposal to hold election separately to Howrah Municipal Corporation and the Bally municipality which it earlier chose to merge, he said, “Howrah Municipal Corporation and Bally municipality were always two separate civic bodies and the people living in these civic body areas also preferred that they remain so. However, Mamata Banerjee chose to merge these earlier as it realised that it though has a firm grip on Bally municipality, was losing hold in Howrah. We had pointed out that such delimitation was inappropriate. Now, in 2021, the state government is again confused and wants that polls be held separately to these two civic bodies.”

The Mamata government in 2015 had made the decision to merge HMC and Bally municipality on the pretext that a municipal corporation has better access to funds than a municipality and the former renders better civic amenities than the latter. In 2021, the state government has decided to reverse its decision after six years.

Meanwhile, on the issue of a CBI probe into the Mother Dairy share transfer case, the CPIM leader said that the case certainly calls for a CBI investigation. “CBI might give a clean chit to the Mamata government after investigation given the bonhomie that her government shares with the Centre but a CBI probe is imperative in this case.”

He also criticised Miss Banerjee’s comment that the Opposition is not cooperating with the state government in state assembly matters by choosing to remain absent.

“Mamata Banerjee should look in the mirror before making such comments. It would remind her of the role TMC played when it was the Opposition during the CPI-M government. All it did was noncooperation on all government matters,” he alleged.