On May 22, the CM will address rallies in Kolkata’s southern suburbs at Behala and Vijaygarh, and the next day, he will address rallies at Tangra and Rajabajaar, both in central Calcutta. On May 25, he will address rallies in North 24 Parganas district at Barasat and Ashokenagar. And while the campaign schedule for May 26 and May 27 has not yet been finalised yet, the CM is almost certain to campaign for his own constituency of Jadavpur in South 24 Parganas.

Asserting the importance of the CM campaigning for the civic polls, party secretariat member Rabin Deb said: “Of the 85 lakh voters in the state, 34 lakh are there in the KMC area and the remaining voters are there in the 82 municipalities. Winning the KMC elections is very important for us and that is why Buddhadebbabu has been roped in for the campaign.”

Party sources confirm the chief minister was initially not keen on campaigning because of health issues, but when the party insisted, he said he would concentrate on Kolkata and North 24 Parganas.

The chief minister seemed to have set the tone of his campaign at a press conference in Alimuddin Street on Sunday where he squarely blamed Mamata Banerjee and her party for the “ills” plaguing the state.

“The Trinamool leader does not know the Constitution and she does not care about it. They (Trinamool) have become a bane for the state,” Bhattacharjee said.

EC proposed polls on two days, but state refused
The state Election Commission had advised the state government to conduct the civic polls on two days, but the proposal was turned down by the state government. This was revealed by state Election Commissioner Mira Pandey during a press conference on Monday.

On Left Front chairman Biman Bose’s criticisms against the commission for relaxing the dates for filling of nomination papers, Pandey said: “State Election Commission is a Constitutional authority. It is a competent and responsible for taking any decisions (on polls) or changing dates.” The state election commission also made it clear that carrying of electoral photo identity cards (EPIC) will be a must for voters.