The Election Commission of India’s full bench in West Bengal will begin reviewing voter document discrepancies and election readiness at 10 a.m. on Monday. Led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Commission arrived in Kolkata from New Delhi on Sunday evening. Meetings with all registered political parties in the state are scheduled.
Upon arrival at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, the Commission was welcomed by West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal and Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty. The first task is to meet with delegations from various political parties, with each party allocated 10 minutes for interaction.
Trinamool Congress, the ruling party, is likely to have the first slot for interaction with the ECI’s full bench. The delegation will include prominent members like Mahua Moitra, Kalyan Banerjee, Samirul Islam, Firhad Hakim, Chandrima Bhattacharya, and Rajeev Kumar. Meetings with party delegations are scheduled between 10 a.m. and 12 noon.
CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal will present on judicial adjudication and poll preparedness to the Commission’s full bench around 12:30 p.m. Following this, a meeting with security and investigating agencies is set between 1:15 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Representatives from about 24 agencies, district magistrates, and police superintendents will attend.
On March 10, the Commission’s full bench will meet with senior state government officials and police officers, including Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and acting DGP Peeyush Pandey. The day will conclude with a press conference by the CEC before the full bench returns to Delhi.
