EC removes chief secretary, home secretary in poll-bound Bengal
According to the EC’s directive, Dushyant Nariala, a 1993-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as new chief secretary of the state
Barely hours after announcing the schedule for the 2026 West Bengal assembly election, the Election Commission of India (EC) ordered a significant administrative reshuffle in West Bengal, removing two of the state’s top bureaucrats, including chief secretary Nandini Chakravorty, from their posts.
The move came amid heightened political tensions in the state, where the administration led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee has recently been at odds with the poll panel over election-related issues.
According to the EC’s directive, Dushyant Nariala, a 1993-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the new chief secretary of the state. Chakravorty, meanwhile, has been instructed to stay away from any election-related assignments until the conclusion of the polling process.
In another key decision, the commission also removed the state’s home secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena from his position.
In a communication sent to the state government on Sunday night, the poll panel directed that Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch IAS officer, be appointed as the Principal Secretary in charge of the Home and Hill Affairs Department.
The directive, signed by Election Commission secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra, made it clear that the officers who have been transferred “shall not be posted in any election-related posts till the completion of elections.”
The commission said the decision followed a detailed review of the state’s preparedness for the upcoming assembly polls. It also instructed the West Bengal government to implement the changes with immediate effect and to submit a compliance report confirming the joining of the newly appointed officers by 3 pm on Monday.
The reshuffle is being seen as an unprecedented development in the state’s recent administrative history, coming against the backdrop of the Trinamool Congress government’s repeated criticism of the Election Commission over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls exercise.
While the state’s political discourse remains sharply divided over the move, some political observers have suggested that the commission’s decision was aimed at ensuring administrative neutrality and impartiality during the election process.
The West Bengal Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on 23 April and 29 April, while the counting of votes will take place on 4 May.
With PTI inputs