On February 3, the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) issued a notification for elections to 108 municipalities across 20 districts in the State on February 27. The announcement comes even as the COVID-19 situation in the State shows signs of improvement. The last day for filing nomination papers is February 9, and the entire election process will be completed by March 8.
Prior to the elections on February 27, polls to the Bidhannagar, Siliguri, Asansol and Chandannagar Municipal Corporations will be held on February 12 and the results will be declared on February 14. The elections to the four civic bodies were supposed to have been held on January 22, but with COVID cases increasing alarmingly, and the Calcutta High Court directing the WBSEC to consider a postponement of "four to six weeks", the Commission deferred the elections by 21 days.
Elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation took place on December 19, 2021, in which the ruling Trinamool Congress won 134 out of the 144 wards. With COVID cases rising exponentially in the State there arose a demand not only from the opposition parties but also from a section of the Trinamool Congress for postponing the rest of the elections. However, with cases coming down, the government announced a number of relaxations to the COVID-related restrictions imposed earlier, and also opened up schools and colleges from February 3 onward.
As of February 3, the positivity rate in the State was 3.94 per cent a steep drop from an all-time high of 32.18 per cent (between January 5 and January 12), and the number of new cases was 1,916. The total number of active cases on February 3, stood at 20,412. However, with 36 deaths, the daily death count remained above 30 for the 20th consecutive day. As of February 3, the total number of deaths in the State stood at 20,759.
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