Kolkata: A bill has been passed in the West Bengal Assembly regarding the separation of Wards under erstwhile Bally Municipality from Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC). However, the West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar is yet to give consent for the bill.
The governor has claimed that although he sought the state government’s clarifications on the bill on November 24, the state administration is yet to give any reply. But on Saturday, the Governor has given an ultimatum that he will now have to come to conclusion on this issue.
“Only the Governor can take the final decision on the bill. The first thing that the governor can do is to give consent to the bill. The second option for the governor is to send back the bill to the state assembly for reconsideration. The third and the final option is to refer the Bill to the President of India,” Dhankar said on Saturday.
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Dhankar, on November 24, returned the bill for separating Bally from Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) seeking clarification on 18 points. In the last assembly session, a resolution was passed to separate the wards under the earlier Bally Municipality from HMC. The bill was passed by a majority. Then the bill was sent to the office of the governor for clearance.
However, the governor not only refused to clear the bill but also sent back the bill to the state government seeking more clarifications. In the absence of governor’s nod, the erstwhile Bally municipality cannot be separated from HMC. So in such a situation separate polls for Bally Municipality and HMC will not be possible.
The state government is willing to conduct the polls for HMC and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on December 19, 2021. So the state election commission was waiting for the governor’s nod on this issue. In such a situation, the fresh move by the governor poses uncertainty for HMC polls on that day.
