A day after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force in West Bengal, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday removed Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) Peeyush Pandey and replaced him with 1992-batch IPS officer Siddh Nath Gupta.

The poll panel also made other major reshuffles in the top police brass, like making Ajay Kumar Nand (1996-batch IPS officer) the new police commissioner of Kolkata in place of Supratim Sarkar. Similarly, Ajay Mukund Ranade (1995 batch) will take charge as ADG (law and order). He is replacing Vineet Goyal. Meanwhile, Natarajan Ramesh Babu (1991 batch) will take charge as the DG (Correctional Services).

Within hours of the declaration of the poll schedule on Sunday evening, the ECI had removed Nandini Chakraborty from the post of chief secretary, appointing Dushyant Nariala in her place. Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena was also replaced by Sanghamitra Ghosh.

Ajay Nand, the new Commissioner of the Kolkata Police, is known for his role in anti-Maoist operations. He previously served as the Commissioner of Asansol-Durgapur and also has experience in the Kolkata Police. He was the first IG appointed to the West Bengal STF.

This time, West Bengal will vote in two phases – on April 23 and April 29. While announcing the poll schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stated that although the number of phases has been reduced, the Commission is determined to ensure free, fair, and violence-free elections in West Bengal. According to sources in the poll panel, the changes in the top level of the state administration and police are aimed at achieving that goal.