The State Election Commission on Monday announced four municipal corporations — Bidhannagar, Asansol, Siliguri and Chandernagore — will go to polls on January 22. Counting ofvotes will be held on January 25.

The state government had submitted in Calcutta High Court that polls to the Howrah Municipal Corporation will also be held on the same day. The commission neither cited Howrah among places where polls will be held on January 22, nor the reason.

The state poll commission said polling will be held for 47 wards in Siliguri, 33 wards in Chandernagore, 41 wards in Bidhannagar and 106 wards in Asansol. The combined strength of voters at these four corporations is over 19.36 lakh and there will be 2,078 polling stations, the panel stated.

Though Opposition parties had criticised Calcutta Police for its handling of the CMC poll on December 19, poll panel sources said the state police would be in charge in the upcoming polls as well.

A poll panel official said that candidates can file their nominations from Tuesday till January 3. Nominations will be scrutinised on January 4. January 6 is the last date to withdraw nominations. Any repoll, if needed, will be held on January 24.

Saurabh Das, state election commissioner, said that starting Monday the model code of conduct would be in force at the four municipal corporation areas.
Prior to Das’s news meet, he had convened an all-party meeting. However, the BJP walked out of the meeting as the state poll panel decided to hold polls at these four places and not Howrah. The Left and the Congress also walked out soon after for the same reason.

“Is this some kind of a joke? You are submitting to court that there will be polls at five places, now you’re saying four,” BJP leader Sisir Bajoria said.
CPM’s Rabin Deb at a news meet later in the day presented a letter claiming it was sent by the state government to the commissioner that mentioned polls to Howrah Corporation would also be held on January 22. “On what grounds is the commissioner not announcing the (Howrah) polls?” Deb said.

State election commissioner Das, however, said the poll body announces civic polls in “consultation” with the state government. Since no proposal on Howrah had yet come from the government, polls couldn’t be announced, he said. “If it (the proposal) comes by tomorrow (Tuesday), we will announce it tomorrow itself,” Das said.

The state government has decided to bifurcate the Howrah Corporation into two and separate 16 wards of the erstwhile Bally municipality. However, the bill that enables the bifurcation awaits governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's nod.

The commission will adopt the electoral roll published by the Election Commission of India on November 1, to which the Opposition objected, saying this would not allow new voters — who will be included in the new draft electoral roll to be published on January 5 — to participate. Das said he was bound by law to go by the EC’s electoral roll.