High Stakes Kolkata Municipal Corporation Polls Today

Over 37 lakh people are voting today to elect councilors to 144 seats in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. 90 other municipalities across West Bengal go to polls next week. Together, they are being billed by many as the semi-final ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal next year.

In the 2010 polls to the Kolkata Corporation, the Trinamool Congress had won a huge majority and the Left parties had come a distant second. This time, the fight seems three-cornered, with the BJP trying to make its presence felt. The Congress is also trying to retain a toehold in the city.

Last time, there were 141 seats, this time, after demarcation, that's up to 144. Results will be declared on April 28.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has held at least four rallies in the city and even took out a eight kilometre road show in South Kolkata to drum up support for her party candidates on the last day of campaigning.

There is tight security for the polls, with at least 30,000 security men deployed across the city. Four police control rooms have also been set up.

"In order to ensure peaceful polls, adequate security arrangements have been made. Besides web cameras inside polling booths, in every borough (comprising seven to 10 wards) a vehicle mounted with a web cameras would also be deployed," State Election Commissioner SR Upadhyay said.

There have been poll-related clashes in some pockets of the city in the run up to the elections. At the last minute, there was a request from the state government for Central forces which declined, reportedly because it came too late. Only three companies posted in the state already have been deployed. In the 2010 polls, 70 companies were deployed in the city.

Unlike Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the voter won't be able to select None of the Above (NOTA) option in this election as the electronic voting machines (EVMs) to be used don't have the facility.