SEC to govt: Issue civic poll notice

Amidst the stalemate over the panchayat election dates,the State Election Commission has asked the state government to soon issue notification for holding the civic polls in 13 municipalities,the tenure of which is ending by June this year.

Amidst the stalemate over the panchayat election dates,the State Election Commission has asked the state government to soon issue notification for holding the civic polls in 13 municipalities,the tenure of which is ending by June this year.

We have urged the state government to issue notification of the municipal elections of 13 civic bodies as early as possible, said Tapas Roy,secretary,State Election Commission.

The letter was sent to the government on March 13.

Of the 13 municipalities whose tenure is ending this June are Cooch Behar,Haldibari ,Mekhligunj,Jalpaiguri ,Alipurduar,Chakdah in Nadia ,Balurghat in South Dinajpur,Guskara in Burdwan,Dubrajpur in Birbhum,Habra in North 24-Parganas and Maheshtala in South 24-Parganas.

Panchayat notification by Thursday: Subrata

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The state government is likely to issue the notification for the panchayat elections on Thursday. Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said: We would like to issue notification on Thursday after consulting the Chief Minister.

It may be noted that Chief Minister will return to Kolkata from her Jhargram tour on Wednesday.

Senior officials of the Panchayat Department,however,added that till now it has been decided that election will be conducted with the help of state armed police. A meeting of Home Department officials over requirement of armed police force for the panchayat election has been convened.

As the date of the notification is getting delayed,SEC officials said with the tenure of present panchayats ending in May,any further delay could trigger a constitutional crisis.

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