Silchar Municipal Corporation Elections "Once Court Case is Over" Says Minister Singhal, Hints at Three Months Timeline

In a significant development, Minister Ashok Singha, in a meeting chaired by him and Ajanta Neog, Assam’s Finance Minister, announced that the long-awaited Silchar Municipal Corporation elections will be held within three months. This decision comes amidst ongoing legal proceedings concerning the elections, which are expected to be resolved within the next 1.5 to 2 months.

The announcement was made during a press briefing by the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ashok Singhal. “There is a court case going on regarding the elections and I believe the decision in that case will be made within 1.5 to 2 months. Once the court case is over the elections for the corporation will be held in Silchar,” Singhal told Barak Bulletin.

The Silchar Municipal Board has seen several changes in leadership since 2020, when ADC Sumit Sattavan took over as the Executive Officer from the then-elected Chairman, Niharendra Narayan Tagore. The chairman’s post has remained vacant since April 1, 2020, and various bureaucrats have managed the board’s affairs since then.

In November 2021, the Assam government announced elections for urban bodies of Assam and two autonomous councils to be held in February 2022, but Silchar was notably excluded. This led to confusion and eventually a postponement of the elections, the ball was with the Silchar MP Dr Rajdeep Roy and MLA Dipayan Chakraborty at the time. They were to decide whether to hold the elections for the Municipal Board or not. Back in November 2021 when Barak Bulletin had asked MLA DIpayan Chakraborty, he said, “It was our poll promise to upgrade Silchar Municipality Board to a corporation. When I was asked for my view, after discussing with the honourable MP and others in the party, I said that we should first upgrade the Board to a Corporation and only then go for election. The final decision, however, is yet to be taken.” The then MP Rajdeep Roy also echoed the same idea and said “upgradation first, elections later”.

On November 28, 2022, the Assam government upgraded the Silchar Municipal Board to a Municipal Corporation, as published in the Assam Gazette. The proposal for this upgrade was initially submitted by the DC Cachar on September 19, 2022. Despite Silchar’s significant population of over three lakh and 42 wards, the city was overlooked for “city” status earlier this year when Dibrugarh was granted the status on March 7. The reason behind this is the absence of an elected body. The delimitation exercise in Assam also delayed the election process ultimately leaving Silcahr without an elected local body for over four years.

The decision to upgrade the board to a corporation involved a thorough process, including hearings from all stakeholders and addressing 46 claims and objections. However, due to the lack of an elected body during the upgrade, the Silchar Municipal Corporation has not yet been constituted, and the office remains under the control of an executive officer.

With today’s announcement, Silchar is hopeful for the urban body elections to finally take place this year. Many also believe that this assurance will not be met and end as a hoax. Speculations are rising that former MLA of Silchar, Dilip Paul, who previously left the BJP, might be a contender for the Mayor’s office. His recent closed-door meeting with the Chief Minister of Assam has further fueled these speculations.