New Delhi/Kolkata: A day after replacing the Bengal Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Home) of its choice, the Election Commission on Monday also replaced the DGP and Kolkata Police Commissioner, among others. Hours after announcing the assembly election schedule for Bengal along with three other states and one Union territory, the Election Commission late on Sunday removed Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and replaced her with 1993-batch IAS officer Dushyant Nariyala. Principal Secretary (Home) Jagdish Prasad Meena was replaced by 1997 batch IAS officer Sanghamitra Ghosh. Chakraborty took over as Chief Secretary on January 1 and was the first woman to be appointed to the post in West Bengal. She was also the first woman Home Secretary of the state. This is the first time that the top bureaucrat of West Bengal has been changed before the elections. On Monday, the Election Commission ordered another reshuffle, removing DGP Piyush Pandey and replacing him with 1992 batch IPS officer Siddh Nath Gupta. 1996 batch IPS officer Ajay Kumar Nand has been appointed in place of Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar. The Election Commission’s overriding powers to transfer officials directly engaged in the conduct of elections come from Article 324 of the Constitution, which places the entire election machinery in the election-holding State or Union Territory under its “superintendence, direction and control”. The 2021 Assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal also saw transfers of DGPs and senior officials identified as “too close to the party in office”.

“CEC Gyanesh Kumar had assured at the Election Commission’s press conference on Sunday that the elections in Bengal will be violence-free and peaceful. In pursuit of this objective, the Election Commission has appointed/transferred senior police officers, including the DGP and the Kolkata Police Commissioner,” an Election Commission official told TOI. Sources have indicated that more transfers will be made at the district level in the coming days in consultation with Bengal’s special observer NK Mishra.Also making changes to the crucial post of ADG and IGP (Law and Order) – with a direct role in preventing political clashes and violence as well as ensuring judicious deployment of security forces for election security – the Election Commission has appointed 1995-batch IPS officer Ajay Mukund Ranade in place of Vineet Goyal. Natarajan Ramesh Babu, a 1991 batch IPS officer, was ordered to be posted as DG Correctional Services. In its order, EC made it clear that these officials have been barred from all work related to Bengal elections. Changes in policing during election season are not unprecedented. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Commission had appointed Rajesh Kumar as Kolkata Police Commissioner, replacing Anuj Sharma. Since the 2016 assembly elections, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has brought back the transferred officers to their previous posts after the elections are over.