EC transfers Bengal chief secretary hours after poll date announcement; Trinamool reacts

The EC also removed West Bengal's Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena.

Hours after announcing the poll schedule for West Bengal, the Election Commission  transferred two senior officials of the West Bengal government, including Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty.

In a letter, the EC said it has reviewed the poll preparedness for the general election to the Legislative Assembly and directs the transfers. It was directed that Dushyant Nariala be posted as Chief Secretary of the state Government in place of Nandini Chakraborty.

PTI reported that the commission also removed West Bengal's Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena.

"...the officers transferred out shall not be posted in any election-related posts till the completion of elections," the communication, signed by commission secretary Sujeet Kr Mishra, said.

The EC said the decision to remove the two officers was taken following a review of the poll preparedness of the state.

The poll panel said its directions are to be implemented with immediate effect, and asked for a report of the joining of the two officers in their respective offices by 3 pm on Monday.

The reshuffle, unprecedented in West Bengal's recent administrative history, 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.

Some corners of the state's political circles maintained that the move was carried out to ensure administrative impartiality during the elections.

The assembly polls will be held in the state on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.

Trinamool Congress staged a day-long walkout from the Rajya Sabha on Monday, protesting the EC's decision to remove the state's top bureaucrats.

"In the dead of night, the chief secretary, the principal secretary and the home secretary have been removed by the EC. They have all the power to do it," Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien said on X.

According to NDTV, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, said that the EC was a constitutional authority and that questioning its decisions on the floor of the House was neither appropriate nor productive.