Kolkata (West Bengal) [India]: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar on Monday said that the Howrah Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill is currently pending consideration with the governor as he is awaiting inputs on the bill from the state government. “I have not signed Howrah Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021. I want to clarify that no proposal was sent to me on separating Bally Municipality from Howrah Municipal Corporation,” said Dhankar in a video posted on Twitter on Monday. “The state government claims that I am delaying the bill, you would be surprised to know that I received the bill on November 24 and I asked for some information regarding the bill on the same day. For almost four weeks, they didn’t respond to me,” he said. “I haven’t received a proper response from the government over my queries regarding the bill,” he added. The Howrah Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, proposing Bally Municipality from the jurisdiction of the Howrah Municipal Corporation, was passed by the Assembly recently. State Election Commission can hold Howrah Municipal Corporation polls with 66 wards as (it happened earlier) in 2015, said Dhankar. Howrah civic polls are expected to be held in 2022.
