SEC talks to all parties on Kolkata, Howrah civic polls – Times of India

Kolkata: State election commissioner Sourav Das on Monday held a meeting with all political parties over the upcoming civic elections in Kolkata and Howrah, but stopped short of mentioning any tentative dates.
The state government, in an affidavit to Calcutta High Court on Monday, said it wanted to hold the polls in Kolkata and Howrah on December 19. The government also mentioned that it wanted to hold elections to other municipal bodies in phases, following the Covid protocol.
The BJP, on the other hand, has already moved the high court, seeking polls across the state’s 114-plus civic bodies on a single day or at least the counting of votes. The state election commission (SEC) will submit its affidavit on November 24.
Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar tweeted that the state election commissioner would meet him on Tuesday to give him updates on the civic polls.
At the meeting on Monday, CPM leader Rabin Deb urged the SEC to stretch the time of campaigning till 10pm instead of 7pm. BJP leader Arjun Singh complained that elections to Howrah Municipal Corporation had been kept on hold for the past three years with an “ulterior motive”.
Deputy government chief whip in the Bengal assembly Tapas Ray spoke about holding polls in Kolkata and Howrah in adherence to Covid safety norms. Trinamool MLA Debashis Kumar too wanted that polling be conducted in phases amid the pandemic.