By Express News Service
KOLKATA: The Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and election commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajeev Kumar arrived in Kolkata on Wednesday to hold a meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer (Bengal) Ariz Aftab and ADG (Law & Order) Gyanwant Singh who happens to be the nodal officer of the state police.
“The commission will take a stock of the law and order situation of the state,” a senior commission official said.
“More than 50,000 non-bailable warrants are pending and the state administration executed more than 10,000 warrants in last four days. We are hopeful that the whole process will be completed in the next 10 days,” a senior state government official said.
To have an assessment of the availability of the force, the state CEO Ariz Aftab on Wednesday called on CRPF IG PK Singh and BSF IG AK Singh and had a detailed discussion with them.
The state government officials claimed that they have sorted out the problems of the additional booths required because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “There were many school buildings that have been damaged because of cyclone Amphan and the commission asked us to make these places ready for the polls. Presently, there will be no shortage of place as far as the polling stations are concerned,” said an official.
The state is also preparing district and state-wise reports on the condition of the booths — the premises, the availability of water, electricity, and other amenities, and the law and order situation. “We hope this detailed report will give the entire picture to the commission,” the official added.
Besides meeting the CEO and state nodal officer, the commission will have separate meetings with the political parties, the officials of election-related Regulatory Agencies, District Magistrates, and Police SPs on Thursday.
On Friday, the full bench will hold a meeting with the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General of Police, and other senior state officials before leaving the city in the afternoon.
