Calcutta High Court Seeks Response From State Election Commission, State Gov In Plea By BJP Leader To Hold Municipal Polls

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday sought response from the West Bengal State Election Commission and the State government in a plea moved by  BJP leader Pratap Banerjee seeking directions to ensure the conduct of elections for all municipal bodies in the State which have been pending for a long time. 

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj directed the State Election Commission and the State government to file their affidavits-in-opposition before the next date of hearing which is slated to take place on November 24. 

In the plea, the petitioner contended that polls for all pending municipalities must be conducted together instead of prioritising only the polls for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Howrah Municipal Corporation. It was further pointed out to the Bench that elections to more than 100 municipal bodies in the State including municipal corporations of Kolkata and Howrah have been due for a long time. 

It may be noted that the State Election Commission which conducts municipal and panchayat polls in consultation with the State government has recently accepted the State's proposal to hold civic body elections in Kolkata and Howrah on December 19. However, no dates have been announced for conduct of polls in other municipal bodies. 

Currently, elections are pending in 112 municipalities of the State since 2020. The stipulated five-year term of elected representatives of these municipalities have ended in the last two years, however polls have not taken place due to the ongoing pandemic. 

Case Title: Pratap Banerjee v. State of West Bengal and Ors