Kolkata, March 30 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday afternoon removed four key officials from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, including one in the rank of Deputy CEO.

The Deputy CEO who has been removed is Subrata Pal, a West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) officer of the 2005 batch. He has been transferred as Senior Deputy Secretary to the West Bengal Health and Family Welfare Department.

At the same time, two Additional Secretaries and one Joint Secretary in the CEO’s office have also been removed. The two Additional Secretaries who have been transferred are Narendra Nath Dutta and Supriya Das. The Joint Secretary who has been transferred is Mithu Sarkar.

However, their replacements have not been announced yet.

At the same time, Rahul Nath, a WBCS (Executive) officer of the 2001 batch and the erstwhile Additional Secretary to the Health and Family Welfare Department, has been transferred as Joint CEO of West Bengal.

Dutta has been transferred as Additional Secretary to the state Labour Department, while Das has been transferred as Additional Secretary to the state Food Processing Industries & Horticulture Department.

Sarkar has been transferred as Joint Secretary to the state Minority Affairs & Madrasah Education Department.

Insiders from the CEO’s office said that these removals have been made as per the recommendations of the CEO, West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal.

Although the election dates have been announced and the Model Code of Conduct is in force, the ECI has transferred several bureaucrats and police officers, from the topmost levels to the lower levels of the administrative hierarchy. However, this is for the first time that the CEO’s office has come under the purview of such transfers and replacements.

Already, two public interest litigations have been filed in the Calcutta High Court challenging such transfers, replacements, and deputation of bureaucrats and police officers from West Bengal to other states ahead of the two-phase Assembly elections in the state next month.

–IANS

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