Read Time: 05 minutes

The West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) has recently submitted to the Calcutta High Court that people in the 112 municipalities will be able to cast their votes in the arrears of the state in six to eight phases by May next year. The Commission has also submitted an affidavit in this regard. The case was being heard by a Division Bench of Calcutta High Court comprising Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj. 

The state government proposed phased civic body elections in Kolkata and Howrah which the WBSEC accepted, however, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed the writ petition seeking simultaneous elections in all civic bodies in Bengal in February next year.

The terms of the elected boards ended over the last two years but elections were not held because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The BJP contended that elections in more than 100 municipal bodies in the state, including Municipal Corporations of Kolkata and Howrah have been due for a long time and hence they should be held simultaneously without further delay.

On the last date of hearing the Court had sought report from the State stipulating the time period within which the State would hold elections to the remaining municipal bodies apart from the already notified Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

The Commission on Monday submitted an affidavit to the Court on how the polls would be held in the remaining 112 municipalities in the state. They claimed that since the number of EVMs is less than the number of booths, it is not possible to hold simultaneous pre-voting in the state. 

In the affidavit, they said that the Commission has 15,600 EVMs. Of these, 6,210 EVMs will be used in the Kolkata polls. 

If the count is not done on the scheduled day, then the Commission will have 8,48 EVMs. As a result, the Commission will not have EVMs for the arrears of state votes unless clause-based calculation is done, the Commission said in the affidavit. In addition, the Commission's lawyer told the Court that multiple rounds of voting were needed to protect voters from a contagious infection like Covid-19.

It is to be noted that the WBSEC has already notified dates for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election. As per the notification, Kolkata civic polls will be held on December 19. The last date for filing of nominations is December 1 and counting will begin on December 22.

Cause Title: Pratap Banerjee vs State of West Bengal