EC rejects Bengal request, home secy has to attend poll panel’s Delhi meet
Times of India | 5 February 2026
Kolkata: The Election Commission on Wednesday turned down Bengal govt's plea to exempt state home secretary Jagdeesh Prasad Meena from attending a briefing meet, making it mandatory for him to head to Delhi to attend the "mandatory" two-day central observer training on Thursday. Bengal is among five states which has polls in 2026, and there is no precedence of the home secretary of a poll-bound state supervising election in another state.
A week ago, EC kept Meena among the 15 IAS and 10 IPS officers from Bengal named as observers for Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry. State govt wrote to EC, urging it to to alter the list, and depute 17 officers — nine IAS and eight IPS — instead of 25. EC rejected the proposal.
In an email sent to the Bengal CEO, an EC representative said: "With reference to request made in the trailing mail and attached documents, I am directed to state that the Commission rejected the exemption request made in respect of officer(s) concerned. Accordingly, the concerned officer(s) may be directed to attend the briefing meeting on the set date and time for the respective batch."
However, CEO Mukesh Agarwal exempted IPS officer Rishikesh Meena, who underwent a liver transplant recently, from attending the meeting.
"The EC received requests to change 170 names listed as Central observers, but didn't change a single name," a senior EC official said. When asked whether deputing the Bengal home secretary might create administrative difficulties in the poll-bound state, he replied, "EC had asked for a list of officers six times. Why didn't state govt send the list?"
Nabanna sources, however, said that officers will wait for CM Mamata Banerjee to take a call before they head to Delhi. They have been asked to attend the training at 9am on Thursday. Thus, a new face-off between Nabanna and the EC is in the offing, sources said.