Kolkata, March 1 The Election Commission held an emergency two-day meeting from March 2 to review preparations for the upcoming West Bengal state assembly elections, amid heightened political speculation over the election schedule, an official said.
The meetings will be held in multiple phases, with a focus on security arrangements and coordination among administrative and enforcement agencies, he said.
"Discussions will begin at 11 am on Monday. In the first phase, the commission will meet with commissioners, inspector generals, deputy inspector generals, district election officers, and SPs. A second round of meetings will follow with senior police officers, primarily to review law and order and security deployment," he said.
Sources said that nearly 240 companies of the central armed police forces have already reached the state, and route marches have commenced.
The deployment and further security planning are expected to be reviewed in detail.
On Tuesday, the commission is scheduled to hold meetings with the chief electoral officer of the state and senior officials of central enforcement agencies, including the Income Tax Department, the Narcotics Control Bureau, the Reserve Bank of India, and the Enforcement Directorate, along with nodal officers of the state police.
"The commission will assess the preparedness at every level and fine-tune the security and enforcement framework before the announcement of the elections," another senior official said.
Earlier, a delegation led by the deputy election commissioner and comprising around eight officials was scheduled to visit West Bengal on Sunday and Monday to meet with district election officers and police superintendents. However, the visit was postponed following a request from the state secretariat, Nabanna.
The sudden decision to postpone the visit, followed by the Commission's move to call emergency meetings, has further intensified speculation over the imminent announcement of election dates.
