Elections in 7 civic bodies to be held on August 13

Election in seven civic bodies will be held on August 13 and the results will be declared on August 17.

The civic bodies where the elections will be held are Durgapur Municipal Corporation with 43 wards and Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri and Buniadpur in Dakshin Dinajpur having 16 and 14 wards respectively. Two municipalities in East Midnapore are also going to polls — Panskura with 18 wards and Haldia with 29 wards.

Elections will also be held at Cooper's Camp notified area with 12 wards and Nalhati Municipality in Birbhum with16 wards. There will be two by-elections in two wards at Champdani Municipality in Hooghly and Jhargram Municipality in Jhargram. The last date for filing nominations is July 24 while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is July 27. The election will be held from 7 am to 5 pm.

Trinamool Congress is gearing up for the polls with the district leadership being instructed to get in touch with people. Party leaders said Mamata Banerjee is likely to instruct the workers on July 21 when the party will hold a rally at Esplanade to observe Martyrs' Day.

It is to be seen whether the Left Front and Congress field candidates jointly or separately. Though the leaders of both the parties have not announced anything as yet, it is expected that they will fight the battle jointly.

BJP has instructed its workers to organise booth-level meetings and build mass contact. The state leaders will go to the districts to address public meetings too. A party insider said some central leaders are likely to come to the state to address rallies.