Covid-19 spike: Calcutta High Court asks EC to consider postponing Bengal civic body polls

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal Election Commission to consider postponing civil body polls for 4-6 weeks due to rising Covid cases. The commission has been given 48 hours to clear its stand on the matter.

Elections are due in seven municipal corporations of West Bengal - Asansol Municipal Corporation, Bidhan Nagar Municipal Corporation, Chandernagore Municipal Corporation, Durgapur Municipal Corporation, Howrah Municipal Corporation and Siliguri Municipal Corporation.

Elections in four municipalities - Asansol, Bidhannagar, Siliguri and Chandannagar - were supposed to be held on January 22, and counting is scheduled for on January 25.  But an individual, Bimal Bhattacharya, filed a PIL and said that keeping in mind the alarming spike in Covid-19 cases in Bengal, the civic polls should be postponed.

On Thursday, at a virtual meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where chief ministers and lieutenant governors of states and Union Territories were present to review the Covid-19 situation in the country, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the administration is well prepared to tackle the pandemic situation in the states amid festivities like Sankranti and the Ganga Sagar Mela.

(With Agency inputs)

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