Kolkata, Sept. 25 -- Bengal's civic poll preparations entered the final lap, with the State Election Commission (SEC) indicating that polling in seven urban bodies, including KMC and HMC, might be in late November. The other five are Bally, Haldia, Dhupguri, Kalimpong and Kurseong. The schedule, however, will be finalised only after consultation with the state government, said Krishna Gupta, state election commissioner.
On Friday, Gupta, after reviewing preparations with DMs and senior officials, said the commission was working with a plan to complete the polls by November-end. The formal notification is expected after the Puja holidays, with officials indicating a likely voting window between November 27 and 29.
The commission has identified 6,301 polling booths for the seven civic bodies and will require more than 37,000 polling personnel to be deployed, with four in each booth. EVM movement to districts has begun and is expected to be completed within the next week. First-level checking of the machines is scheduled from September 29 to October 6.
The SEC is simultaneously working on polling-staff recruitment, sector planning, vulnerability mapping, law-and-order arrangements, expenditure monitoring and ensuring minimum infrastructure at polling stations.
The final ward-reservation lists for Kolkata and Howrah are scheduled for publication on October 7, while those for the other municipalities will be published on October 6.
Gupta said decisions on deployment of central forces or state police would be taken after assessing the situation.
"An all-party meeting will be convened after the election notification."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.