EC official holds meetings to review WB's poll preparedness

Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain held a series of meetings with leaders of political parties, election and state officials to review poll preparedness and take stock of the ground situation in West Bengal ahead of the general elections. He was in the city after a BJP delegation comprising senior leaders Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad and JP Nadda urged the Election Commission to declare West Bengal a “super-sensitive” state to ensure free and fair polls. After meeting Jain, Secretary General of the ruling Trinamool Congress, Partha Chatterjee, said that the BJP had taken recourse to “dishonest tactics” to suggest to the EC that peace was hampered in West Bengal. He also said that his party had apprised the EC that the BJP adopted the “ploy” to shield its own weakness and the party's demand was nothing short of an insult to the state.