Calcutta High Court restrains KMC polls until challenge on delimitation decided
The West Bengal government, through a delimitation, has increased the number of wards of KMC from 144 to 209. The petitioner argued that the State government and its agencies have resorted to gerrymandering in order to secure partisan advantage to the ruling political party in West Bengal on the premise of previous electoral results.
The Calcutta High Court on October 6, 2026, issued an order restraining the West Bengal State Election Commission from issuing notifications for upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections, based on newly redrawn wards, until a pending challenge to the delimitation process is resolved. The West Bengal government had enacted legislation on August 12 that increased the number of KMC wards from 144 to 209.
Former councillor Dipu Das challenged the delimitation exercise before the Calcutta High Court. The court's Division Bench, comprising Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Arjun Ray Mukherjee, ordered the State Election Commission to refrain from issuing any election notification based on the amended Schedule II of the KMC Act, pending the outcome of the challenge.
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