In another administrative overhaul in poll-bound West Bengal, the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday ordered the transfer of 83 BDOs (Block Development Officers) from across 18 districts. The BDOs work as Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) during the election.
Among those transferred are the AROs of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas and Nandigram block in Purba Medinipur district. The new AROS are members of the West Bengal Civil Service (Executive), ranging from 2014 batch seniors to recent 2025 batch appointees.
Late on Sunday night, the EC replaced ICs (inspectors-in-charge) of 142 police stations across West Bengal, including that of Bhawanipur in south Kolkata from where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. Soumitra Basu, an officer from the Special Task Force (STF), has been placed in-charge of the Bhawanipur police station. Subhabrata Nath, who was previously stationed at Chandannagar, has been appointed as the IC of Nandigram thana.
In Sandeshkhali 2 block in North 24 Parganas, BDO Arun Kumar Samanta has been replaced by Sarabjit Tamang, a 2024 batch WBCS officer.
Naziruddin Sarkar in Nandigram-1 block has been replaced by Sanjoy Sikdar, a 2014 batch officer. Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, is contesting from Nandigram once again. He is pitted against TMC’s Pabitra Kar.
Significant changes have also been made in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts in the north, and South 24 Parganas district in the south.
In Dinhata 2 block in Cooch Behar district, Lhamu Y Wangdi, a 2025 batch WBCS officer, will replace Nitish Tamang. Shreyashi Naskar has been replaced by Arindam Mondal, a 2018 batch officer, in Cooch Behar 1 Block. In Jalpaiguri district’s Maynaguri block, Prasenjit Kundu will replace Soumen Das, a 2018 batch officer.
In Purba Bardhaman, Sudhan Mektan, a 2024 batch WBCS officer, will take over the charge of Bardhaman 1 block, while Sanjit Kumar Sinha of the same batch will head Raina 2 block.
Similarly, in Krishnanagar-1 block in Nadia district, Mihir Karmakar has been replaced with Swapan Sahu, another 2025 batch officer.
Further south, in the Falta block of South 24 Parganas, Sama Bakshi has been replaced by Tanmoy Bhattacharjee, a 2025 batch officer.
In Birbhum’s Mayureswar-1 and Labpur blocks, Nibir Mondal from the 2018 batch and Utpal Dasmohori from the 2016 batch will be the new AROs, as per the EC notification.
“These ground-level transfers are a standard yet vital procedure during election cycles. BDOs serve as the backbone of the electoral machinery in their capacity as AROs. By shuffling these officials, the EC intends to prevent established local ties from influencing the democratic process, ensuring an impartial and efficient conduct of the election,” a senior EC official said.
The transfer of 83 BDOs evoked a sharp reaction from the TMC, which termed it a “BJP conspiracy”.
Speaking at an election rally in Bankura district, the TMC supremo said, “They (EC and BJP) have insulted the IAS; they have insulted the IPS. The BJP has insulted the WBCS and the WBPS officers… I condemn… There are many conspiracies. Conspiracies hatched in Delhi, I will foil those conspiracies. Remember, an injured tiger is far more dangerous than a healthy one. They have snatched all power from my hands; I only want one power—the power of the people. I want nothing else.”
TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar likened it to the President’s rule. “Whether it is in the hands of certain individuals or a particular administration… will they be able to maintain law and order or manage the administration properly during the elections? You cannot hand over the administration to just anyone; they need to have experience in their respective fields. This is especially necessary during election time. By succumbing to the BJP’s pressure, they (EC) are moving toward a situation similar to President’s Rule. This will eventually boomerang,” he added.
BJP leader and the party’s chief whip in the outgoing Assembly, Shankar Ghosh, denied any role of his party in the latest round of transfers. “The BJP has no connection, even remotely, to these reshuffles… Once the elections conclude, it will be clear whether things ‘boomeranged’ or if the election was conducted peacefully,” Ghosh told mediapersons, referring to Majumdar’s boomerang remark.