Do things change for the BJP if civic polls are held for Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC)? Since the BJP came to power, former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim resigned and switched loyalties to the Ritabrata Banerjee faction of Trinamool Congress(TMC). Many councillors stepped down, and the board was dissolved. The Municipal Commissioner Smita Pandey took over as administrator. The story is different for HMC, which has had administrators since 2018, but no elected members to the board since 2013.
The BJP has the upper hand when it comes to winning civic polls. Howrah has 10 assembly constituencies, while Kolkata has 11. A majority of seats were won in both Howrah and Kolkata by the BJP. The saffron party has the upper hand in winning civic polls in majority wards. Delimitation increases the number of wards in Kolkata from 144 to 209, while in Howrah, wards increase from 50 to 68. Is delimitation required for better functional efficiency and delivering better services to citizens? Or is it about increasing the saffron party’s clout at the ward level?
Things get complicated with the Calcutta High Court (CHC) putting a stay on the process of KMC polls as the delimitation case is pending in court. Former CPIM member Mayor in Council in HMC Imitiyaz Ahmed, who is a lawyer too, approached the CHC questioning delimitation in HMC, as elections have not taken place since 2018. Hence, where is the need for delimitation? Meanwhile, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari spoke to ward-level coordinators in support of the BJP if there is no clearance from the courts on conducting elections. The state government is also approaching the Supreme Court(SC) over the stay on KMC elections.
Does a ward-level election warrant such complexities? Does the state government’s decision override the mandate of the courts? While there will be a logical conclusion in the court with time, what matters is: will civic amenities improve drastically when the new board is installed in HMC and KMC, more so if delimitation comes into being? The citizens should not be at the receiving end of past misgivings and political tussles. It is time basic amenities in the nooks and corners of Kolkata improve, and the city of joy gets a facelift.
