KMC polls are likely to be held in Nov-end
The district magistrate of South 24 Parganas has published a draft of reserved seats for KMC.
“Repeated reservation of the same or substantially similar ward areas over multiple election cycles restricts equal opportunities for candidates from the general category,” the letter said. “The process of reservation of seats is underway and is scheduled to be finally published on Oct 7 for KMC and Howrah Municipal Corporation, and on Oct 6 for other municipalities,” said Krishna Gupta, the State Election Commissioner, on Friday.
The Opposition has alleged that the govt was not following due process and the draft list for reservation should not have been published before the publication of the final boundaries of 209 wards.
It seems they have decided everything and convened the delimitation hearings merely as an eyewash,” said Kallol Majumdar, Kolkata district secretary of CPM . Ashutosh Chatterjee, a general secretary of Pradesh Congress Committee, said there were wards that had been reserved for women in successive KMC polls without the necessary rotation formula. Kunal Ghosh, spokesperson of Mamata All India Trinamool, also said the authorities should have first responded to objections filed by them before publishing the draft of reserved seats.
“The govt’s eagerness to rush through the process is giving the impression that our objections will not receive due importance. The Congress also submitted a protest letter to KMC administrator Smita Pandey on Friday.