Kolkata: The State Election Commission (SEC) will adhere to the deadline set by CM Suvendu Adhikari and complete elections to Kolkata and Howrah Municipal Corporations, along with six other civic bodies, by Dec 7.The SEC will hold the polls based on the electoral roll published by Election Commission of India on July 1, state election commissioner Krishna Gupta said on Tuesday.Besides the municipal corporations in Kolkata and Howrah, polls will be held to Bally, Haldia, Jhargram, Dhupguri, Kalimpong and Kurseong municipalities.“We will conclude the election process in these eight corporations and municipalities by the first week of Dec. The elections will be held based on the electoral roll published on July 1 by EC. We will hold a meeting with the DMs concerned tomorrow,” Gupta said.As of July 1, the Kolkata North and Kolkata South electoral districts had 10,88,692 and 6,80,643 voters, respectively.The Kolkata North electoral district has seven assembly constituencies — Chowringhee, Entally, Beleghata, Jorasanko, Shyampukur, Maniktala and Cossipore-Belgachhia. The Kolkata South electoral district consists of Bhowanipore, Rashbehari, Ballygunge and Kolkata Port assembly seats.All 11 assembly segments are under KMC. The KMC area also includes three more assembly seats — Behala East, Behala West and Kasba — that fall under the South 24 Parganas electoral district.The KMC ward count will increase from 144 to 209 before the upcoming polls because of delimitation. The state govt had on June 8, 2026, dissolved the civic board, following the resignation of Firhad Hakim from the post of mayor. The civic body is now run by an administrator.In HMC, where elections have been due since 2018, the number of wards will increase from 50 to 68 following delimitation of civic constituencies.CM Adhikari had on June 15 announced that KMC elections would be held by Dec 7, the day the tenure of the previous board would have expired had it not been dissolved.Asked whether SEC had enough EVMs for the civic polls, Gupta said, “We have around 2,000 EVMs. We sought EVMs from EC and have got those. There are now enough EVMs to conduct polls to the eight civic bodies.”The state govt has issued notifications for delimitation of wards in Siliguri and Durgapur Municipal Corporations. Post-delimitation, the number of wards in Siliguri will increase from 47 to 63, while Durgapur’s will rise from 43 to 53. “We will conduct the delimitation exercises in Siliguri and Durgapur,” Gupta said.The delimitation of wards in Kolkata and Howrah was conducted by the state urban development and municipal affairs department.
