BJP meets SEC, demands ample time for campaigning in municipal

A BJP delegation Thursday met the West Bengal state election commissioner demanding "ample time" to campaign for the municipal polls likely to be held in mid-April as the state board exams will continue till the end of March.

The state secondary board exam which started on February 18 will end on February 27. The higher secondary examination will be held between March 12 to March 27.

Restrictions are in place on the use of loudspeakers due to the state board examinations. According to the state government and the state election commission sources, April 15 - April 26 is being mulled for the election to 107 civic bodies in the state and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which is being billed as the "mini assembly elections" ahead of the crucial 2021 assembly polls in West Bengal.

"We are ready to face the civic polls. But where is the time for campaigning? We will get only 10-12 days for it. This is a ploy by the state government to ensure that BJP does not get enough time to campaign," senior BJP leader Mukul Roy told reporters here. He said the BJP has demanded that the election schedule when notified should be strictly adhered to.

The ruling Trinamool Congress was quick to hit back saying the saffron party is trying to find excuses as "defeat of the saffron party is imminent in the polls".

"The entire state knows that the KMC and municipal polls are held in April. What were they (BJP) doing for all these months? Were they sleeping ? ... These are lame excuses on the face of imminent defeat," senior TMC leader and minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said.

The State Election Commission (SEC) is likely to issue the notification for the civic bodies election by the second week of March.

According to SEC sources if the notification takes place between March 1 and March 5 then the election to KMC can be held between April 11 and April 15. Election to the rest of the civic bodies in the state will be conducted at least 15 days after the KMC polls.

The SEC has already held a meeting with the officials of North and South 24 Parganas and Howrah districts and directed them to complete the preparatory work for the civic polls.