The Assam State Election Commissioner has deferred the elections to the 40-seat Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The elections were to have been held on April 4, according to the commission's notification on March 11.
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“We have issued a notification for postponing of the BTC polls. The elections stand deferred after the last date of withdrawal of nominations tomorrow [March 21],” State Election Commissioner Alok Kumar told The Hindu.
Political parties and the authorities across the four districts -- Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar and Udalguri -- under the BTC have been asked to stop election campaigns and rallies by Sunday.
“A fresh date for polling and the go-ahead for the resumption of campaigns will be announced in the near future,” an election official said.
The State government on Friday morning requested the election commission to consider postponing the BTC polls because of the need to minimise the gathering of people as a precautionary measure against the pandemic.
The request was made after Governor Jagdish Mukhi, who is the constitutional head of the Sixth Schedule areas such as the BTC, had suggested postponement of the council polls.
The Arunachal Pradesh government also deferred the municipal and panchayat elections that were due by May. The elections stand postponed in view of the COVID-19 threat, an official statement said on Friday.
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On Wednesday, the frontier State's Health Department advised the government to put on hold the municipal and panchayat polls.
