People raise “go back” slogans and show black flags during a demonstration as Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar visits the Kalighat Kali Temple, in Kolkata, on March 9, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with senior officials and police officers in West Bengal on Tuesday (March 10, 2026) to review preparedness for the upcoming Assembly elections, officials said.
The CEC will also hold a press conference amid controversies over alleged arbitrary deletions in the post-SIR electoral rolls.
Mr. Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, is scheduled to hold meetings with West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Director General of Police (DGP) Piyush Pandey and other senior officials to assess election-related arrangements in the State.
The poll panel will also review coordination between the State administration and security agencies, including the deployment of central armed police forces, the officials said.
The commission is scheduled to hold a meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, the State police nodal officer and the CAPF nodal officer to review logistical arrangements and security planning, an official of the CEO’s office said.
The commission is also expected to interact with booth-level officers (BLOs) and hold a press conference later in the day.
The meetings are part of the programmes during the Election Commission of India’s (ECI’s) three-day visit to West Bengal to review poll preparedness for the upcoming Assembly elections in the State.
On Monday (March 9), the full bench of the commission met representatives of political parties in Kolkata.
The political parties suggested that the elections be conducted in one or two phases, and urged the commission to take stringent measures to curb intimidation of voters and activities of anti-social elements during the polls.
“A wide range of issues concerning the conduct of elections in the State were discussed. Several parties suggested that the elections be held in one or two phases and assured their cooperation in ensuring that the polls remain peaceful,” a senior ECI official said.
During meetings on Monday (March 9), the CEC warned that any lapse in maintaining law and order ahead of the elections would not be tolerated and stressed the need for strict monitoring to ensure free and fair polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had accused Mr. Kumar of threatening State officials during a meeting with the administration and warned that “false bravado” by constitutional authorities was not acceptable, stepping up the confrontation between the State Government and the poll panel.
Speaking from the site of her dharna in central Kolkata against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Ms. Banerjee alleged that the CEC had adopted a threatening tone towards the State bureaucracy.
CEC faces ‘go back’ slogans, shown black flags outside Dakshineswar temple
CEC Kumar faced protests with a group of people raising ‘go back’ slogans and showing black flags to him during his visit to Dakshineswar Kali Temple near Kolkata on Tuesday morning (March 10).
A similar protest was held outside the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport upon his arrival in Kolkata on Sunday night (March 8).
He had faced the ‘go back’ slogan and was shown black flags on Monday morning (March 9) when he visited the Kalighat Temple in the southern part of the city.
Despite the protests, Mr. Kumar continued with his scheduled engagements in the State.
The CEC also visited Belur Math in Howrah district this morning and said the poll panel is committed to violence-free elections in West Bengal.
He said the ECI will make efforts to ensure that voters can exercise their franchise in a festive environment.
“The ECI would like to ensure that polls will be violence-free or intimidation-free,” Mr. Kumar said while addressing mediapersons during the visit to Belur Math.
Published – March 10, 2026 11:04 am IST
