A day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised its “unilateral midnight transfers” of top police and administrative officers, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday transferred 13 district magistrates or district electoral officers (DEOs) and five deputy inspectors general (DIGs) of police across poll-bound West Bengal.
According to the ECI notification, the DEOs of Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Uttar Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia, Purba Bardhaman, Kolkata North, Kolkata South, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Darjeeling, and Alipurduar were transferred.
Jitin Yadav, a 2016 batch IAS officer, was posted as DEO of Coochbehar, while Sandip Ghosh (IAS, 2016) was appointed DEO of Jalpaiguri. Vivek Kumar (IAS, 2016), Rajanvir Singh Kapoor (IAS, 2012), and R Arjun (IAS, 2010) were posted as DEOs of Uttar Dinajpur, Malda, and Murshidabad, respectively. In Nadia and Purba Bardhaman, Srikant Palli (IAS, 2015) and Sweta Agarwal (IAS, 2016) were appointed as DEOs. Smita Pandey (IAS, 2005) and Randhir Kumar (IAS, 2006) were named DEOs for Kolkata North and South.
Shilpa Gourisaria (IAS, 2009), Abhishek Kumar Tiwary (IAS, 2012), Harishanker Panicker (IAS, 2013), and T Balasubramanian (IAS, 2013) were appointed DEOs of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Darjeeling, and Alipurduar, respectively.
Of these, Smita Pandey, Randhir Kumar, and R Arjun were also designated as electoral roll observers during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
Five new DIGs were appointed for Raiganj, Murshidabad, Bardhaman, Presidency, and Jalpaiguri ranges: Rathore Amit Kumar Bharat (IPS, 2009), Ajit Singh Yadav (IPS, 2011), Srihari Pandey (IPS, 2011), Kankar Prasad Barui (IPS, 2007), and Anjali Singh (IPS, 2009).
Earlier, the ECI had transferred the chief secretary, home secretary, director general of police, and other top officials. It also shunted 12 police superintendents, four police commissioners, and one deputy police commissioner.
Banerjee had protested the “sweeping” transfers, writing to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling the move “a matter of deep concern and surprise” and asking him to “refrain from adopting such unilateral measures in the future”.