Bengal govt to conduct civic polls through paper ballot

Kolkata: In a significant twist to the municipal elections, the state government has decided to conduct the forthcoming polls in April through ballots.

The State Election Commission is expected to declare the final date of polls on February 10. It is expected that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) and other civic bodies in the state will go to poll on April one after the other.

It may be mentioned here that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had raised her protest against the Centre after publication of the last Lok Sabha result and alleged that some manipulation might have taken place in the Electronic Voting Machine. The Chief Minister also announced that the civic polls in the state would be conducted through ballot papers. The state Election Commission had conducted the Panchayat polls through paper ballots and it would face no problem in conducting the civic polls in a similar manner, a senior official at the State Election Commission said.

According to sources in the State Election Commission, the civic polls would be conducted in 2-3 phases. The draft list of reservation for the civic polls in the state prepared by State Election Commission was released a few days ago.

Interestingly, four Member, Mayor-in-Councils (MMiCs) and two borough chairmen of Kolkata Municipal Corporation will not be able to contest from their own wards during the civic polls, due to the reservations. The commission will release the final list of reservation on February 10.

According to the draft list of state EC, eight out of 144 wards of the KMC has come under SC reservation and three of these have been reserved for SC women. Meanwhile, as many as 45 wards have been reserved for general women.

Lastly, ward 33, 58, 78, 107, 110, 127, 141 and 142 have come under SC reservation, out of which 33, 78 and 127 have gone to SC women.