Didi Protests To CEC On Top 5 WB Officers’ Removal
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in her first letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar after the Assembly Election announcement in West Bengal, protested the dismissal of five of her government’s favorite bureaucrats without consulting her on Monday night.
Calling the EC decision ‘one-sided’, Ms. Banerjee said in her letter, “Such sweeping transfers have been effected without any credible reason and without any allegation of violation, abuse or statute of limitations in the conduct of elections,” before reminding Mr. Kumar that the EC had previously sought a panel of names of officials at the time of transfer of anyone.
He alleged: “It is, therefore, a matter of deep concern and surprise that the heads of the administrative machinery in the State of West Bengal were removed within a few hours of the press release announcing the 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly General Election. This was done arbitrarily without asking for a panel of officers from the State Government and without adhering to the established convention guiding the institutional functioning of the ECI (the State) during the previous elections.”
The Trinamul Congress presidency added: “It also undermines the spirit of cooperative federalism and the principles of our democratic politics which form a fundamental feature of our constitutional government. The Election Commission of India, as the constitutional authority of the highest standing, is expected not only to exercise its powers but also uphold the spirit and values inherent in the federal structure of India.”
He then requested the CEC to “refrain from taking such unilateral measures in future as it risks undermining the long-standing legacy, credibility and institutional integrity of the Election Commission of India and also violates the fundamental principles of our constitutional framework.”
However, his appeal went nowhere as the EC made another reshuffle at the IPS level on Tuesday, leaving 13 police chiefs and six others (four Inspectors General and two Additional Director Generals) facing transfer. The EC also sent senior IAS officer Jagdish Prasad Meena to Tamil Nadu as central poll observer after he was removed from the post of state home minister.
When asked about this, Ms Banerjee said sarcastically: “They can shift the whole of Bengal to one place! The spies here are the BJP. They cannot tolerate Bengal and are engineering everything here through the EC. I know their plan behind this sudden influx of transfers. They want to distribute money through civil servants during elections.”
