Bengal poll panel approaches HC over civic body polls

The West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) on Thursday approached the Calcutta High Court for orders on holding elections in seven municipal bodies of the state.

The high court in April passed an order directing the poll panel to hold elections to the municipal bodies of Asansol, Kulti, Raniganj, Jamuria, Bidhannagar, Rajarhat-Gopalpur and Bally within two months.

"As per the court directives the WBSEC had taken steps to hold elections in the seven bodies. But the state government now has stated before the court that it wants to upgrade the civic bodies to municipal corporations which require more time for the elections to be held," WBSEC counsel Nayan Bihani said.

"So we have approached the court for necessary orders in this regard," said Bihani.

Filed before the bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur, the matter will come up for hearing on Friday.

Polls to 92 civic bodies, including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, were held in April but these seven civic bodies were not included.