Kolkata: State Election Commissioner Sourav Das on Wednesday held a meeting with the district magistrates of North 24-Parganas, Kolkata and Howrah, reviewing the poll-preparedness in their respective jurisdictions. The Commission has chalked out a detailed plan on how to conduct the civic polls under their jurisdictions and issued the necessary instructions to the DMs. According to sources in the State Election Commission, a number of issues had been discussed at length during the meeting. The Election Commissioner wanted to know from the DMs about the available infrastructure and manpower in their jurisdictions. What the electoral roles of various officials in the districts would be and how the election machinery would perform were also discussed in the meeting. The South 24-Parganas DM is currently in charge of Kolkata. It may be mentioned here that the elections for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and 107 other civic bodies in the state are likely to be held in mid-April. The state government is keen on holding the elections between April 12 and 26, a senior government official said. The state government has also proposed the State Election Commission to hold the elections in April. The State Election Commission categorically told the officials during Wednesdays meeting that polls would be conducted on ballots and it would not be possible for them to conduct the elections on EVMs within a short span of time. The state government had reportedly placed its demand before the Commission to conduct the civic polls using ballot. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier alleged discrepancies in the results of the Lok Sabha elections and accused the Narendra Modi government at the Centre of manipulating the EVMs during the elections. The state governments intention became clear that the civic polls would likely be conducted on ballots, to bring transparency in the entire process. It has been learnt that the commission has instructed the DMs to take poll preparations. Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Howrah Municipal Corporations may go to poll in the first phase of the elections. It was also learnt from the sources that a senior official of the Election Commission of India visited the State Election Commission office and held a meeting with the State Election Commissioner. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress Supremo Mamata Banerjee will hold a meeting with the chairmen and vice-chairmen of her party-run municipal bodies on February 20, to finalise her partys strategy for the civic polls.

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