Bengal’s ruling dispensation is looking at conducting overdue elections to 15 administrator-run civic bodies across Bengal, including the Howrah Municipal Corporation, in the next two months.

This, insiders said, would enable a basic understanding of Trinamul Congress’s position in urban centres in the wake of the RG Kar protests.

Sources in the state government, however, said that the final call regarding the elections in the civic bodies will be taken by none other than chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

A senior official in the state election commission said: “We are now prepared to hold elections in the 15 civic bodies.”

“But we are awaiting the state government’s decision. Once we get that go-ahead, we will begin our work without delay,” he told this newspaper.

A senior in the ruling party said if Mamata does green-light the idea, it could be a timely indicator of where the party stands as of now. As it is, it fared poorly, despite its statewide sweep, in a vast majority of urban areas this general election in the summer, trailing substantially in 69 of the 125 civic bodies.

“If she allows it, it would be good to know where we stand. Although, let’s face it, local elections under the state machinery and the state poll panel are not an accurate yardstick of actual electoral support. Nonetheless, it could be a good indicator, especially now,” he said.

After the 2021 Assembly elections, polls to 108 civic bodies were held, with Trinamul winning 102. Since then, 15 civic bodies have completed their tenures, including big ones such as the Durgapur Municipal Corporation, the Coopers Camp municipality in Nadia, and the three hill municipalities of Kalimpong, Kurseong, and Mirik, where elections have been pending for the last two years.

Another major concern for the state election commission has been the Howrah Municipal Corporation, where elections have been delayed since 2020. This was because former governor Jagdeep Dhankhar withheld assent to the Howrah Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which proposed separating the Bally municipality.

According to commission sources, as governor C.V. Ananda Bose approved the bill, there are no legal hurdles to the poll.

Calcutta High Court too, responding to a petition on September 13, directed the state to take a “proper and legal decision” towards holding elections to three municipalities in north Bengal whose terms had ended in 2022. It directed the state’s municipal affairs secretary to consider a representation to hold elections within six weeks from the date of the order.