Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) polls will be held on December 19
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) polls will be held on December 19, a notification issued by the State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday said.
The stage is now set for a litmus test for the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP on whether they have been able to hold on to their ground or increase their support base among urban voters since the assembly elections seven months ago.
The Trinamool had swept all the 16 assembly segments in Kolkata in the last election.
The counting of votes polled in the 144 wards of the civic body is likely to be held on December 21, State Election Commissioner Saurav Das said.
"The KMC elections will be held on December 19 and the counting is likely to take place on December 21. We will issue a separate notification for that. The entire polling process has to be completed by December 22. From today onwards, the Model Code of Conduct is implemented," Mr Das told reporters.
A total of 40,48,352 voters are eligible to cast their votes.
"There will be 4,742 polling booths. The filing of nomination starts from today and will continue till December 1. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is December 4. The polling and election campaign will take place adhering to all COVID protocols," he said.
Mr Das said that discussions are on with the state police chief and the Kolkata Police Commissioner regarding the deployment of security forces.
When asked whether the poll body will seek deployment of the central forces, Mr Das said he can comment on it only after going through the security plan submitted by the police forces in the state.
The elections to KMC, along with 112 other municipalities and municipal corporations, were due in April-May 2020. But the polls were postponed due to the raging COVID pandemic.