Ajay Nayak, Vivek Dubey to visit state today

Kolkata: Special Observer Ajay Nayak and Special Police Observer Vivek Dubey are coming to the state on Friday to take stock of the poll preparedness and law and order situation.

The Election Commission on the very day of its announcement of the poll schedule had declared the name of former Bihar Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Nayak as a Special Observer and Vivek Dubey and M K Das as two Special Police Observers for the Bengal Assembly polls.

Nayak and Dubey are expected to take the final call on the deployment pattern of the Central forces in coordination with senior officials of the Commission and the state CEO office for conducting free and fair elections in the state.

Nayak was brought in as a Special Observer for the state soon after the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Dubey, a 1981-batch retired IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, had also been appointed as a Special Officer in the 2019 general elections. A senior official in the state CEO office informed that the Election Commission has approved lunch for the polling officials who are undergoing training in different districts, including Kolkata, regarding various election aspects.

The officials had demanded that they should be offered lunch during the day-long training.

"Those who have already undergone training will have Rs 170 credited into their respective accounts as allowance for lunch. We have informed all the DEOs to take necessary action in this regard," said Sanjay Basu, state Additional CEO (Chief Electoral Officer).