Chennai: As the deadline to conduct local body elections in rural areas of nine districts in the state is fast approaching, the Tamil Nadu state election commission has approached the Supreme Court seeking more time to conduct these elections. The court, in June, directed the election commission to complete the elections by September 15.
According to a report in The New Indian Express, the election commission has said that they have been carrying out the arrangements to conduct elections in full swing but it would need 35 more days to complete the elections in the rural areas of the nine districts.
Quoting a source, the report said that the election commission has also moved the Supreme Court seeking seven months time to notify the elections to urban local bodies.
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Tamil Nadu State Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru had earlier said that his department is gearing up to face the local body elections in urban areas by December.
The report said that now that the state government has announced its decision to create six more municipal corporations and 28 municipalities in the state, local body elections for urban areas could be conducted only after exercise, ward delimitation could be completed.
Meanwhile, the election commission is convening an all party meeting to discuss the rural local body elections in the state. The commission has already released the voters list for the nine districts and announced additional time for polling in the view of Covid-19 pandemic, according to the report.