Kolkata: Tearing into the opposition for “stalling the KMC polls”, a combative CM Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said “do not mess with me, I have passed many exams”.Stating that govt would appoint coordinators in all 209 KMC wards after Nov 30 to work with the administration, Adhikari said: “You want to stall votes but this govt will not keep waiting for you. After Nov 30, in all 209 wards I will appoint coordinators, with whom the administration will work. It is clear in law. Let them keep on fighting.”The CM said he wanted an elected board to take charge at KMC and serve people of the city. “But a few want to stall the polls and have moved before a HC vacation bench. I am the CM, the administrative head. I will fight it out in a higher court.”“People in Kolkata will not get water, roads will not be cleaned, parks will not be cleaned, there will be no street lights, KMC will not work with cops to ease traffic snarls, there will be potholes… this too cannot continue,” he added.Ward coordinators for KMC is an administrative arrangement first created by state govt in May 2020. When the pandemic delayed municipal elections after the KMC board’s tenure expired, outgoing councillors were temporarily designated as ward coordinators to oversee local civic services alongside an interim Board of Administrators (BoA) under Section 14 Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act, 1980. The designation ceased once newly elected councillors took office.State industry minister and BJP senior Tapas Roy maintained that the party could say little about a court order. “Calcutta High Court has given its observation. We do not have any problem, whether the elections take place now or later. People of Kolkata will pick a mayor from BJP. They want a BJP-run board at KMC,” he said.Opposition parties, meanwhile, maintained they were not consulted while redrawing the boundaries of KMC wards and delimitation was an “unscientific” exercise.Mamata Trinamool’s Baiswanor Chattopadhyay said the urban development department conducted delimitation in a manner that was targeted at benefitting BJP.“None of the objections raised by us during delimitation hearings were factored in,” Bengal Congress general secretary Ashutosh Chatterjee said. Civic services are meant for all, said CPM senior Subrata Dutta. “How could KMC redraw ward boundaries in 2026, based on 2011 population data, while a Census is underway?” he said.Sandipan Saha of Democratic TMC, led by Ritabrata Banerjee, said a delay in elections will mean that “common people will suffer”.
