Big blow to West Bengal BJP as Calcutta HC refuses to stay Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections – Times Now

Kolkata: In a major setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court has on Wednesday refused to put a stay on the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections which are due on December 19.

The court has also directed the West Bengal government and the state poll panel to undertake measures to conduct the polls in other civic bodies as well at the earliest, albeit as less phases as possible.

The State Election Commission (SEC) and the Trinamool Congress government had earlier informed the HC that polls to 111 municipal bodies will be conducted in 6-8 phases by May 2022. However, they said the dates would be fixed later taking into consideration the Covid-19 and school board examinations.

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court, consisting of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice R Bharadwaj, had in its order refused to stay the KMC polls despite the BJP’s request.

The BJP and another petitioner had filed a plea with the HC and sought the direction of the SEC and the state government to conduct the polls to all municipalities and municipal corporations together and as early as possible.

The BJP claimed that the SEC and the TMC government announced the schedule for the KMC polls while the petition was pending, calling for a stay on the elections set to be held on December 19.

The HC bench asked the State Election Commission and the West Bengal government to take the required measures to hold the polls to the other 111 municipal bodies at the earliest.

It also ordered the two parties to inform the court on a “tentative plan for holding these elections on the next date of hearing on December 23”, according to news agency PTI.