Union Home Minister Amit Shah with BJP leaders from West Bengal during a meeting, in Kolkata, Friday, December 16, 2022. Photo Credit: PTI
Officials said Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council at the West Bengal Secretariat here on Saturday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her counterparts from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Sikkim are likely to attend the EZC meeting.
Secretariat sources, however, said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik may stay away from the meeting.
Among other issues, Shri Shah will also discuss matters related to the borders of the five states and the completion of the Eastern Freight Corridor.
Along with chief ministers, chiefs of all central armed forces are also expected to attend the meeting, which was earlier scheduled for November 5 but was postponed owing to Shah’s unavailability and other engagements.
A police official said security has been beefed up around the state secretariat and the BJP office in the city.
Mr Shah, who is also a senior BJP leader, held a closed-door meeting with members of the party’s Bengal unit on Friday evening, where they took stock of the law and order situation in the state.
BJP leaders said they also reviewed the preparations of the saffron camp for the upcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal.
The BJP national vice president said, “We have apprised the home minister about the prevailing law and order situation in West Bengal. He has also been informed about the party’s preparations for the panchayat polls. requested to arrive.” Speaker Dilip Ghosh told reporters.
State President of the party Sukant Majumdar and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Shubhendu Adhikari were also present in the meeting which lasted for about 30 minutes.