'No notice for holding civic polls to be issued during hearing of cases'

KOLKATA: Uncertainty prevails over the Kolkata and Howrah Municipal corporation election with the submission of the State Election Commission before the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday stating that no notification to conduct the civic polls would be issued during the hearing of the cases in this connection. The pending civil polls in Kolkata and its twin city Howrah are supposed to take place on December 19.

A Division Bench, headed by Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava, during the hearing of PIL filed by the BJP seeking that polling in all municipal bodies where it is pending be held together on a single day, directed that the state government and State Election Commission to file affidavit in connection with the arrangements of the election.

The next hearing will be on November 24.

Elections are pending in 112 municipalities of the state, including Kolkata, since 2020. It was learned a few days ago that the arrears of re-election will be completed by the State Election Commission in two or three steps. In the first phase, voting will be in Howrah and Kolkata.

Meanwhile, Indian Secular Front (ISF) has decided to pitch candidates in civic polls. "We have decided to field 20-25 candidates. We will issue the list of candidates soon," said Indian Secular Front (ISF) leader and Bhangar MLA Md Nawsad Siddique.