Bengal
ECI orders major reshuffle in Bengal police brass a day after poll announcement
Kolkata/IBNS: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday ordered a sweeping reshuffle in the police leadership of West Bengal, a day after announcing the Assembly election schedule and hours after a major bureaucratic rejig in the state administration.
The poll body appointed Siddh Nath Gupta (IPS-1992) as Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG & IGP), Natarajan Ramesh Babu (IPS-1991) as Director General, Correctional Services, Ajay Mukund Ranade (IPS-1995) as ADG & IGP (Law & Order) and Ajay Kumar Nand (IPS-1996) as Commissioner of Police, Kolkata.
The ECI directed that the orders be implemented with immediate effect and said that a compliance report on the joining of the officers must be submitted by 3:00 pm on March 16, 2026.
The commission also said that officers transferred out will not be allowed to hold any election-related posts until the completion of the polls.
Late on Sunday night, the poll body had removed West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena from their respective posts.
Chakraborty was replaced by Dushyant Nariala, while Sanghamitra Ghosh was appointed as Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs in place of Meena. The Commission barred both Chakraborty and Meena from holding any election-related posts until the completion of the Assembly polls.
On Sunday, the Election Commission of India announced a two-phase Assembly election in West Bengal, one of the five states including a Union Territory — going to the polls.
The elections in West Bengal will be held on April 23 and April 29, while the results for all states will be declared on May 4.
Meanwhile, questions over adjudicated cases under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process continue to linger as judicial officers in West Bengal and neighbouring states are still verifying around 60 lakh forms.
In its last hearing, the Supreme Court of India directed the formation of an appellate bench to hear appeals against deletions from the adjudicated cases.
The poll announcement has further complicated the situation, raising questions over whether the supplementary SIR list can be published before the nomination filing deadline.
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