Kolkata, Nov 13 (IANS) The recent delimitation of wards in Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) has been challenged before the Calcutta High Court, raising fresh uncertainty over the proposed civic elections in West Bengal.
The petition was filed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader from Howrah and former Member-Mayor-in-Council of HMC, Imtiaz Ahmed.
A single-judge vacation bench of Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya admitted the petition, with the matter likely to come up for hearing on November 17.
This is the second challenge to the ward delimitation exercise involving the state’s two major civic bodies.
Earlier, another CPI-M leader and former Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Councillor, Dipu Das, had approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the delimitation of wards in Kolkata.
On November 6, a division bench comprising Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Justice Arjun Roy ordered an interim stay on the issuance of a notification by the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) announcing the dates for elections to constitute the new KMC board.
Both KMC and HMC were scheduled to go to the polls in December this year, with the results expected in January 2027.
However, the High Court’s interim order has already cast uncertainty over the KMC election schedule.
The outcome of the fresh petition challenging HMC’s ward delimitation could further complicate the civic poll preparations.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has indicated that the state government will approach the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s order concerning KMC.
He has also spoken about appointing coordinators to oversee the functioning of both KMC and HMC.
West Bengal President and Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya has echoed the Chief Minister’s position.
Under the draft delimitation proposal, the number of wards in KMC has been increased from 144 to 209.
In HMC, the proposed number of wards has gone up from 50 to 68.
Opposition parties have consistently objected to the formula adopted for the delimitation exercise in both civic bodies, alleging irregularities in the process.
However, the CPI-M remains the only party to have taken the issue to the Calcutta High Court through legal challenges.
–IANS
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