NEW DELHI: After the Election Commission (EC) ordered major transfers of top bureaucrats in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress protested by walking out of the Rajya Sabha on Monday. This happened while voting was under way for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states.The EC, in a letter dated March 15, announced the transfer of West Bengal’s chief secretary and principal secretary of home and hill Affairs. The poll panel said the changes were made after reviewing the state’s preparedness for the upcoming assembly elections.TMC MPs, including Sagarika Ghose, slammed the EC, saying, “The manner in which the Election Commission transferred the Bengal Home Secretary and Chief Secretary at 4 am in the dead of night is unacceptable. The Election Commission has these powers, but it is misusing them to damage the elected government in Bengal. That’s why our party walked out of Parliament for the entire day.”Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju defended the EC, saying it has the “constitutional authority” to make such transfers and criticized TMC for raising the issue in Parliament.
Who was transferred
The EC removed two top officials from Mamata Banerjee’s administration:
- Chief secretary: Nandini Chakravorty was removed and replaced by Dushyant Nariala (IAS-1993 batch)
- Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs: Jagdish Prasad Meena was replaced by Sanghamitra Ghosh (IAS-1997 batch)
Other key postings include:
- DG and IGP, West Bengal: Siddh Nath Gupta (IPS-1992)
- DG, Correctional Services: Nataraj Ramesh Babu (IPS-1991)
- ADG and IGP, Law and Order: Ajay Mukand Ranade (IPS-1995)
- Kolkata Police Commissioner: Ajay Kumar Nand (IPS-1996)
The EC’s letter, signed by secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra, said these directions are effective immediately. The transferred officers will not be posted in any election-related work until the elections are over. Compliance reports are expected by 3 pm on March 16.The reshuffle comes after the EC announced the election schedule for four states—West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam—and one Union Territory, Puducherry. The West Bengal assembly polls will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting on May 4.The move is seen as an attempt to ensure administrative neutrality during the elections, especially after TMC’s repeated criticism of the EC over the ongoing Special Summary Revision exercise in the state.
