On Friday, the West Bengal government transferred 64 senior officers among them 10 district magistrates only hours before the Election Commission of India (ECI) was set to hold a press conference in Delhi.
Nabanna called the reshuffle “routine.” But a senior official told Indian Express, “It was expected that after the SIR announcement, the ECI would move those district magistrates who have held the post for more than three years. So, before the ECI could do that, the state administration transferred them to avoid controversy.”
BJP laments WB's major reshuffle as a 'gross violation'
However, strongly condemning the Bengal govt’s this move, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bengal unit filed an official complaint with the Election Commission, alleging a “gross violation” of poll-related norms.
“BJP West Bengal complain to Chief Election Commissioner regarding gross violation after WB Govt transfers 235 officers — including 17 DMs, 22 ADMs, 45 SDOs & 151 BDOs — post SIR announcement. BJP West Bengal Demands immediate annulment of the ‘irregular transfers’ done without ECI approval,” the party said in a statement.
“This is not a routine transfer. These DMs held their positions for years. Now, since SIR will start, the state government is forced to change so many of them. This is to save themselves from embarrassment,” Senior BJP leader and former state president Rahul Sinha also slammed Nabanna's just "routine" reshuffle stance.
During Friday night’s major reshuffle, North 24 Parganas District Magistrate Sharad Kumar Dwivedi has been shifted to the Health and Family Welfare Department as secretary. His position will now be filled by Shashank Sethi, the outgoing Managing Director of WBHIDCO.
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Sumit Gupta, the DM of South 24 Parganas, has been appointed Municipal Commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. His Cooch Behar counterpart, Arvind Kumar Mina, will take charge as the new DM of South 24 Parganas.
Rajarshi Mitra, DM of Murshidabad, has been brought in as Managing Director of WBHIDCO, replacing Sethi. Rajat Nanda, who served as DM of Purulia, has been given charge as Director of Tourism, while Preeti Goyal, previously DM of Darjeeling, will now head the administration in Malda.
