The Times of India               30.04.2013

KOLKATA: Elections to 13 municipalities in the state, that were supposed to take place in June, won't happen is not going happen

before July 19. Secretary of municipal affairs B P Gopalika on Monday discussed the matter of delimitation and reservations for the municipal elections with the state election commission (SEC) officials.

State officials said the municipal polls can't take place before the panchayat elections. The state is now entangled in a legal battle with the SEC in the high court on the dates of panchayat polls and use of central forces during the elections. So, municipal department officers are apprehensive that the SEC might want deployment of central force for the civic polls too, considering the deterioration of law and order in the state following the Saradha row. as after the collapse of the Saradha chit fund there had been wide scale riots in different parts of the state.

The officials said they would start the delimitation process for the five municipalities of Dubrajpur, Habra, Dalkhola and Balurghat soon. The delimitation for East Midnapore is likely to start from next week and will end by early July.

According to sources, the state will try its best to defer the municipal polls since several Trinamool leaders' names have been dragged into the Ponzi scam. tnn