EC orders major reshuffle of Bengal bureaucracy; Kolkata Communist Party chief secretary replaced ahead of parliament polls

New Delhi: The Election Commission announced a major reshuffle in West Bengal’s administrative and police top brass within hours of announcing the poll schedule, ordering the immediate replacement of the state chief secretary, director general of police (DGP), principal secretary (home) and Kolkata police chief, among others.The EC has the supreme power to mobilize officials directly involved in the polls, a power that stems from Article 324 of the Constitution, which places the entire polling machinery under the “supervision, direction and control” of the state/Union Territory in which the elections are being held during the preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of Assembly and State Legislature elections. West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Chief Secretary (Home) Jagdish Prasad Meena were evicted late Sunday night. Both are seen as close to the state’s ruling party. EC Command Dushyant Nariala Industrial Automation Association A 1993-batch officer was appointed as principal secretary with immediate effect; Sanghamitra Ghosh, an IAS officer of 1997-batch, was posted as principal secretary, home and mountain affairs.On Monday afternoon, the top brass of the West Bengal police made a series of transfers. DGP Peeyush Pandey was transferred and SIddh Nath Gupta, a 1992-batch IPS officer, took his place. Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar was replaced by 1996-batch IPS officer Ajay Kumar Nand. “Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, at the Election Commission press conference on Sunday, assured that the elections in West Bengal will be violence-free and peaceful. To achieve this, the Election Commission has appointed/transferred senior police officials in the state, including the Director General of Police and the Kolkata Police Commissioner,” a senior Election Commission official told TOI. The European Commission has also made changes to key positions such as Assistant Director-General and Inspector-General, Law and Order, with direct responsibility for curbing political conflict and violence and judicious deployment of security forces to ensure voting security. The executive committee replaced the incumbent with Ajay Mukund Ranade, a 1995-batch IPS officer. Natarajan Ramesh Babu, a 1991-batch IPS officer, has been appointed as Director General, Corrections Department. The transfers are not unusual as the Election Commission has also replaced senior officials in West Bengal in past Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, drawing sharp criticism from the Indian government. Trinamool Congress In Parliament. TMC MP Derek O’ Brien has announced that the party’s MPs from the House of Commons will go on a one-day strike in protest, even though he is also Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kieron Rijiju Stressing that the poll panel has the constitutional power to do so, it claimed that the TMC has made a habit of attacking all constitutional institutions.