HM chairs Eastern Zonal Council meet; Mamata, Soren, Tejashwi in attendance

The Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) meeting got underway around 11 am on Saturday at the West Bengal secretariat here with Union Home Minister Amit Shah chairing it, officials said. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her counterpart from Jharkhand Hemant Soren, Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and Odisha cabinet minister Pradeep Amat were attending the meet, which is expected to last for around two hours, they said.

Besides security matters, the meeting will focus on the issues related to international borders.

The Union minister is set to leave for Shillong following the meeting, the officials added.


Shah, who is also a senior BJP leader, had on Friday evening held a closed-door meeting here with members of the party's Bengal unit, where he took stock of the law and order situation in the state.

He also reviewed the saffron camp's preparations for the upcoming panchayat polls in Bengal, BJP leaders said.

"We have apprised the home minister of the current law and order situation in West Bengal. He has also been told about the party's preparations for the panchayat polls. He urged party workers to reach out to as many voters as possible," BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh told reporters.

The party's state president Sukanta Majumdar and Leader of the Opposition in assembly Suvendu Adhikari were present at the meeting that lasted for around 30 minutes.