Civic Elections
Kolkata: The West Bengal state election commission (SEC) on Thursday deferred the publication of the final electoral rolls for seven civic bodies, including Kolkata Municipal Corporation, which were scheduled to be put up on Nov 12. In a letter to the KMC district municipal election officer and the DMs of South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and East Midnapur, SEC secretary Arindam Mani said, “I am directed to inform you that the date for final publication of electoral roll, which was earlier scheduled to be published on 12.11.2026, is hereby extended. Because of infighting over poll tickets, cPM’s Kallol Majumdar alleged BJP wanted to defer the KMC elections.
Officials said it was now practically impossible for the SEC to adhere to the original deadline set by the chief minister for the completion of KMC election. CM Suvendu Adhikari had earlier said the KMC would get a new board before the first week of Dec. Refuting the allegation, BJP’s Sisir Bajoria said, “We want elections on time. Ratna Sur, chairperson of Mamata All India Trinamool Congress South Kolkata district, claimed election officials were “unprepared and clueless”. “They are changing the time of meeting one day and altering the date for the publication of final voter list the other day,” she said.
The SEC did not announce the revised date for the final lists. And the revised date of final publication will be notified in due course. But the opposition wants to defer it as the parties are not prepared.
“It has become clear that KMC elections could not be held according to the CM’s deadline. We demand that KMC elections be held after publication of EC’s electoral roll in Jan,” Ashutosh Chatterjee of the Congress said. The opposition, which has flagged erroneous booth distribution in the delimitation of KMC wards, has been demanding that the KMC elections be deferred until EC publishes the final rolls only after its special summary revision in Jan. They have redrawn the KMC ward maps after the hearings, which is illegal. The voter list is erroneous, with names of several dead voters still on it.