On Tuesday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) appointed Bijit Kumar Dhar as the Additional Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, an official said.

It also named Arindam Niyogi as the joint secretary and Sourav Barik as the deputy secretary at the CEO’s office in the state, he said.

The appointments were made nine days after the ECI transferred Additional CEO Saibal Barman, Joint Secretary Anamika Majumdar and Deputy Secretary Amitjyoti Bhattacharji.

Bijit Kumar Dhar is currently posted as special secretary, tribal development department, while Niyogi is presently the joint secretary of land and land revenue department. Barik is now the deputy secretary at the state health and family welfare department, the official said.

The assembly elections are due in the state in April- May.

The top officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) would visit poll-bound Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala, beginning Wednesday, to take stock of election preparedness. The ECI has already visited Assam and West Bengal.

The terms of the legislative assemblies of the four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry end on different dates in May and June and the elections are likely to take place in April. The commission, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar, will be in Tamil Nadu on February 10 and 11.

They would visit neighbouring Union territory of Puducherry on February 12 and Kerala on February 13 and 14 to interact with poll officials and civil and police officers to take stock of election preparedness. The ECI would also interact with political parties.

The commission usually visits poll-bound states before announcing the election schedule. But in the case of Bihar, the poll panel had visited Patna after announcing the election dates.