The Election Commission of India has announced the election schedule for four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry. In West Bengal, polling will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. Within hours of releasing the schedule, the Commission took a major decision by removing four senior officials in the state, including the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, and directed the government to appoint new officers in their place.
The Commission ordered the removal of Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and appointed Dushyant Nariala as her replacement. Director General of Police Piyush Pandey was also removed, with senior IPS officer Sidh Nath Gupta assigned to take charge of the post.
Similarly, Supratim Sarkar was removed as the Police Commissioner of Kolkata and replaced by Ajay Kumar Nand. The Commission also removed Home Department Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena and appointed IAS officer Sanghamitra Ghosh to the position. According to the Commission, the decision was taken after a review meeting held in preparation for the upcoming state elections.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee strongly condemned the Election Commission’s decision and expressed anger over its actions. She announced that protests would be held on Monday evening. The move has sparked a political storm in the state, especially amid existing tensions between the ruling All India Trinamool Congress and the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of the voter list.