The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the West Bengal administration to conduct the Howrah Municipal Corporation polls as soon as possible after the state assembly elections get over.
The tenure of the last board of HMC had ended back in December 10, 2018. From then onwards the corporation has been run by unelected board of administrators selected by the West Bengal government.
Demanding immediate election, the Howrah district CPIM had filed a PIL in the Calcutta High Court. Hearing the case on Friday, the division bench of Indraprasanna Mukhopadhyay and Mohammad Nijamuddin directed the Bengal administration to immediately have the election.
CPIM’s district secretary in Howrah Biplab Majumder claimed that the TMC-led government did not conduct the polls because feared losing their majority in the corporation.
“They gave the excuse of covid to not hold election in more than 100 municipalities. There was no covid in 2018. Actually, it is such an undemocratic government that anywhere they fear losing an election they don’t hold it,” Majumder was quoted as saying by Bengali portal The Wall.
In December last year, the Supreme Court of India had also directed the state government to hold the elections immediately. Following the court’s order, Bengal administration decided to conduct the polls in March this year.
The Municipal elections in West Bengal were postponed again as the Election Commission of India is contemplating conducing the legislative assembly polls in March and April this year.
As a result, Municipal Affairs Minister of West Bengal Firhad Hakim has informed that the Municipality votes are likely to be postponed again, reported Hindustan Times Bangla earlier this month.
Hakim informed that after declaration of the Vidhan Sabha election’s dates in February, the West Bengal administration would go under the ambit of EC. Thus, the Municipality elections would not be possible then.