EC orders major bureaucratic reshuffle in Bengal; chief secretary, DGP, Kolkata CP replaced ahead of Assembly polls | India News

NEW DELHI: Announcing a major shake-up in West Bengal’s administrative and police brass within hours of announcing the poll schedule, the Election Commission has ordered the immediate replacement of the state’s chief secretary, director general of police (DGP), principal secretary (home) and Kolkata police commissioner.The EC’s overriding power to transfer officers directly engaged in the conduct of elections, derives from Article 324 of the Constitution, which places the entire electoral machinery in an electoral State/UT under its “supervision, direction and control” during the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of elections to Parliament and State Assemblies. West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty was removed along with Principal Secretary (Home) Jagdish Prasad Meena late on Sunday night. Both are seen as close to the ruling party in the state. On the instructions of EC, Dushyant Nariyala, A IAS The 1993 batch officer will be appointed as Principal Secretary with immediate effect and 1997 batch IAS officer Sanghamitra Ghosh as Principal Secretary for Home and Hill Affairs.Another set of transfers in the higher ranks of the West Bengal Police followed on Monday afternoon. DGP Piyush Pandey was dropped and 1992 batch IPS officer Siddha Nath Gupta was brought in his place. Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar was replaced by Ajay Kumar Nanda, a 1996 batch IPS officer. “Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, at the EC’s press conference on Sunday, assured that elections in West Bengal would be violence-free and peaceful. Pursuant to this objective, the EC has appointed/transferred senior police officials of the state, including the DGP and Kolkata Police Commissioner,” a senior EC official told TOI. Also reshuffled in key posts of ADG and IGP, law and order — a direct role in curbing political clashes and violence as well as judicious deployment of security forces for election security — EC replaced 1995 batch IPS officer Ajay Mukund Ranade. Natarajan Ramesh Babu, a 1991 batch IPS officer, was ordered posted as DG, Correctional Services. The transfer – which is not unusual as the EC has similarly replaced top officials during the previous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in West Bengal – has drawn sharp criticism. Trinamool Congress in parliament TMC MP Derek O’Brien announced a day-long walkout by party MPs in the Rajya Sabha in protest, even as Parliamentary Affairs Minister. Kiren Rijiju underlined that the poll panel has the constitutional authority to do so and alleged that the TMC has made a habit of attacking all constitutional bodies.