Kolkata, February 21: The polling process for the civic elections in Darjeeling was stayed on Thursday by the Jalpaiguri circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court. The bench was hearing a petition filed by 15 councillors of the Darjeeling municipal body, who had challenged the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government's decision to dissolve the Darjeeling municipal body despite two-and-a-half years of the tenure still being left.

The court, finding merit in the plea, decided to stay the elections till at least April 30. The bench has fixed the next hearing in the matter on April 24. Advocate Amit Bhandari, who is representing the petitioners, said he is hopeful of relief from the judiciary. Jammu & Kashmir Panchayat Polls Postponed, Election Commission Cites 'Inputs From Law Enforcement Agencies'

The Trinamool Congress government dissolved the Darjeeling municipal body in May 2019, shortly after a chaos erupted in the civic body over the majority status of the Binay Tamang faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won both the Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies of Darjeeling, several councillors switched sides in the municipal body.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee decided to dissolve the the Darjeeling Municipal Board. The Additional District Magistrate was instead appointed as the administrator of the territorial council in June 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 21, 2020 09:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).