Municipal elections in West Bengal deferred due to rising Covid-19 cases

Amid surging Covid-19 cases, elections to four municipal corporations in West Bengal scheduled for January 22 have been deferred.

In a notification issued on Saturday, the West Bengal State Election Commission has stated that the elections will take place on February 12.

The notification mentions that in compliance with a division bench order of Calcutta High Court, the Commission “on consideration of the prevalent Covid-19 pandemic situation”, with modification to its earlier notification, has appointed the new date of elections as February 12. The four corporations that are set for polls are Siliguri, Chandernagore, Bidhannagar, and Asansol.

On Friday, the High Court had delivered a verdict responding to a PIL that sought court’s order to the Commission for postponing the elections. A division bench had directed the Commission to look into the situation and take a call within 48 hours on whether it was possible to postpone elections by four to six weeks, considering the rising number of Covid cases.

Opposition parties in the state, primarily the BJP, had been in favour of deferring the polls. The BJP had asked that polls be deferred by at least a month. The Left and the Congress Party, too, had been skeptical about the holding of elections at a time when people are under threat due to a surge in infections. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, too, had stated that in his personal opinion, he considers that all religious and political activities be deferred by at least two months.

In West Bengal, the rise in Covid cases has continued for the past two weeks. On Friday, the state reported 22,645 fresh cases, of which 6,867 are from Kolkata. As many as 28deaths due to Covid were recorded on Friday.

Meanwhile, after a review, the state executive committee of West Bengal State Disaster Management Authority has decided to extend the current restrictions till the end of January, while allowing graded relaxations. Starting Sunday, marriage functions are allowed to have 200 people at a time, or 50 per cent of the venue's capacity, whichever is lower. Mela, fair - will be allowed in the open-air venue in a restricted manner with the following of Covid norms.

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