A TMC delegation will meet Election Commission officials on Thursday to demand conduct of bypolls and pending elections to seven assembly seats of West Bengal, as the Covid-19 situation has eased considerably.

The by-elections are critical for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who lost the assembly poll to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram. She needs to get elected to the assembly by November 4 to continue as the CM. “The assembly elections were held in eight phases when Covid-19 was at an all-time high. But now when the situation has improved a lot, the EC is delaying the bypolls. Is it waiting for the third wave?,” asked TMC’s chief whip in the RS Sukhendu Shekhar Ray.