EC full bench arrives on 2-day visit of Bengal

Kolkata: The full bench of the Election Commission of India, after its arrival in Kolkata, spent over an hour meeting

Bengal

’s chief electoral officer, Ariz Aftab, and senior EC officers in the state. The scheduled meeting with ADG (law and order) Gyanwant Singh, the nodal officer, for poll security arrangements along with Aftab was deferred till Thursday morning.

Chief election commissioner Sunil Arora and election commissioners Sushil Cha-ndra and Rajeev Kumar reached the city on Wednesday afternoon. Speaking to reporters, Arora said: “This is my second visit to Kolkata and we will give answers to all your queries in the press conference.” Deputy election commissioner and Bengal in-charge Sudip Jain is also with the EC.

Later in the day, Arora and the election commissioners met Aftab at a city hotel.

According to sources, the EC spoke at length on law and order, and stressed on free and fair polls in Bengal.

The EC is scheduled to meet district magistrates and police superintendents on Thursday. On Friday, the EC will meet the state chief secretary, the home secretary, the state DGP and other senior state officials before leaving late in the afternoon.

The state government on Tuesday appointed two senior IAS officers, Smaraki Mahapatra and Sanghamitra Ghosh, as joint chief electoral officer and additional chief electoral officer, respectively.