Election to 108 municipalities across 20 districts of the State will be held on February 27.West Bengal State Election Commission on Thursday issued a notification giving details of the election process including nominations, scrutiny and withdrawal of candidatures. Last day for filing nomination papers for the polls is February 9 and the election process shall be completed by March 8, the notification said.
About 95 lakh voters will be able to exercise their franchise to elect ward representatives and mayors to the 108 civic bodies. With the notification, the model code of conduct has come in force in these municipalities.
Elections to four municipal corporations – Siliguri, Bidhannagar, Asansol and Chandernagore – is scheduled on February 12 and the results for the four civic bodies will be declared on February 14. Polls to these four municipal corporations were postponed at the instruction of Calcutta High Court considering the spike in COVID-19 infections a couple of weeks ago. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation went to polls on December 19 and the Trinamool Congress won by an overwhelming majority.
Polls have pending in the civic bodies for the past few years but could not be held because of COVID-19 pandemic situation in the State. The civic polls on February 27, is when largest number of civic bodies are going to polls. Polls will be held in civic bodies all across the State from Darjeeling in north to South 24 Parganas in the south. 25 municipal bodies will go to polls in North 24 Parganas.
Political parties in the Opposition, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Left parties had urged the State Election Commission to postpone civic polls by four weeks considering the COVID-19 situation in the State.
