ECI team likely to visit Bengal on Aug 19

A three-member team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to visit West Bengal on August 19 to review the preparations for next year's general elections, a source said on Saturday. The ECI delegation would be headed by Deputy Election Commissioner, in-charge of West Bengal, Nitesh Byas, he said.

The state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ariz Aftab on Saturday held a meeting with District Magistrates and held discussions on several election-related issues.

"Saturday's was a first-level meeting where discussions were held on the preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Discussions were also held on the revision of the voter list, as well as on surveys of the area," the official told PTI.


At Saturday's meeting, it was also decided that from August 1, the poll panel would start examining the EVMs, he said, adding that a deadline of August 7 has been set to complete the task.

"We are aiming to complete most of the necessary tasks for next year's general elections before the ECI team is here to review the preparations for it. We have set a time, from August 1-7 to conduct tests of the EVMs among other necessary things," he added.