In a move unprecedented in West Bengal's administrative history in terms of its scale, the Election Commission removed the state's bureaucratic and police top brass, including the chief secretary and the DGP, in the run-up to the next month's assembly polls.
Although the commission held pre-poll transfers of top bureaucrats and police officers of Bengal as individual cases in the past, never has it transferred the state chief secretary, home secretary, director general of police, Kolkata police commissioner and the ADG (law and order) -- the most crucial officers forming the crux of state administration -- at one go, forbidding them to take part in election-related activities. The decision for the shake-up was taken hours after the announcement of the assembly poll schedule on Sunday. While the commission's first order, issued late Sunday evening, resulted in the removal of the state's two top bureaucrats, Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty and Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, a subsequent order, dated March 16, removed the state's DGP Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata CP Supratim Sarkar, who were among four top IPS officers in Bengal replaced ahead of the elections.
The commission appointed Dushyant Nariala, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch and additional chief secretary of the state's North Bengal Development department, as the state's chief secretary. The poll panel ordered the appointment of Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch IAS officer and secretary of the Women and Child Development department, as home secretary. The EC appointed Siddh Nath Gupta, a 1992 batch IPS officer, as the director general of police, and brought in Ajay Kumar Nand (IPS-1996) as the new commissioner of Kolkata Police. Nand served as ADG (Counter Insurgency Force) prior to this posting. The commission also replaced ADG (law and order) Vineet Goyal with Ajay Mukund Ranade (IPS-1995) and appointed Natarajan Ramesh Babu, an IPS officer of the 1991 batch, as DG (correctional services), in place of Siddh Nath Gupta, who held that position before the transfers.
The poll panel said its directions are to be implemented with immediate effect, and asked for a report of the joining of all the officers in their respective offices by 3 pm on Monday. "...the officers transferred out shall not be posted in any election-related posts till the completion of elections," the communications, signed by commission secretary Sujeet Kr Mishra, said. In May 2019, the commission transferred Atri Bhattacharya from his post of home secretary during the Lok Sabha elections following an instance of violence during a BJP rally in Kolkata. The EC accused Bhattacharya of interfering with the electoral process by directing the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) regarding the deployment of central armed police forces (CAPF). In April 2016, the commission had removed Rajeev Kumar, then Kolkata Police commissioner, in the middle of the six-phase state elections after opposition parties alleged partiality against him in handling complaints about the ruling TMC. Kumar was again transferred out by the EC from his position as the state's acting DGP in July 2024 ahead of the general elections that year.
Top EC officials justified the latest spate of transfers on grounds of ensuring administrative impartiality and strict adherence to law during the upcoming high-stakes elections, the process for which has now been initiated. "Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, in his press conference on Sunday, had assured that elections in West Bengal would be violence-free and peaceful. In pursuance of this objective, the ECI has transferred senior police officials of West Bengal, including the DGP and the Kolkata Police commissioner," a senior Election Commission official told PTI. It bears recall that during the commission's full bench visit to Kolkata last week to review poll preparedness of the state, Kumar had, as per reports, reprimanded Goyal and questioned the absence of a Narcotics Advisory Committee in Bengal.
Kumar said the commission has instructed officers in the state to enforce the rule of law strictly without fear or favour. "We have reviewed the law and order condition in the state and the entire government, led by its chief secretary, the DGP, the CPs and SPs, has assured the commission that the election will remain free of violence and intimidation," the CEC had said. Kumar was unambiguous on the operational boundaries within which the commission expected the state officials to work during the poll process. "All officials must work within the purview of law, constitutional provisions and EC's instructions. Any slackness in that regard will result in strict disciplinary action," he said. The reshuffle was enforced in the wake of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress dispensation's constant criticism of the poll body over the ongoing SIR exercise in the state. The assembly polls will be held in the state on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.