Election Commission team holds video conference

Kolkata, Jan 17 (PTI) The six-member Election Commissionteam, now here to assess law and order in West Bengal beforefinalising dates for the Assembly election, today held a videoconference with 10 district magistrates and superintendents ofpolice.

All the districts are in south Bengal.

One of the observers when asked about what transpired atthe three-hour video conference just said the team was here toassess the law and order situation.

"We are not supposed to say anything to the press," hesaid.

The team is headed by the Chief Electoral Officer ofBihar, Sudhir Kumar Rakesh. The other members are Zaki Ahmed(DIG, National Crime Record Bureau), P R K Naidu (DIG,National Crime Record Bureau) and D K Pandey (ADG, Jharkhand),V S Reddy (DIG, Andhra Pradesh) and P S Rampassi (DIG,Orissa).

Later, the team visited the nearby Hooghly district andheld a meeting with the district administrative officials.

Hooghly district has for the last four years been in theeye of a political storm ever since the Tatas pulled out theirsmall car factory from Singur at the height of an agitationagainst land acquisition led by Trinamool Congress in 2008.

Political clashes have been frequently reported in thedistrict, especially at places like Khanakul, Arambagh,Pursura, Goghat, Gangipara, Haripal and Tarakeshwar.