Kolkata: In a significant development late on Monday evening, the Election Commission of India (ECI) removed as many as 73 Returning Officers (ROs) in West Bengal, which is scheduled to go to the polls in two phases next month on April 23 and April 29.
The development opens a new line of confrontation between the ECI and the West Bengal government, as the state government and the ruling Trinamool Congress are already up in arms against the Commission over the transfer of several bureaucrats and police officers of the state cadre, including the erstwhile Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, former state Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, erstwhile acting Director General of Police Peeyush Pandey, and former Commissioner of Kolkata Police Supratim Sarkar, among others.
The total number of Assembly constituencies in West Bengal is 294, with one Returning Officer typically appointed for each constituency. With the removal of 73 ROs, nearly 26 per cent of the total ROs in the state have been replaced. The Commission issued a notification in this regard on Monday night.
Meanwhile, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Calcutta High Court challenging the ECI’s decision to transfer several top bureaucrats and police officers of the state cadre. The preliminary hearing in the matter was held on Monday.
During the hearing, the ECI’s counsel informed a division bench of the Calcutta High Court that transfers of bureaucrats and police officers vary from state to state depending on ground-level requirements.
The counsel submitted that while the Commission does not have unbridled powers, it has the authority to take necessary decisions to ensure that the polling process remains free, fair, and violence-free.
He also placed before the court details of bureaucrats and police officers transferred, replaced, and sent on deputation in other poll-bound states.
The next hearing in the matter by the division bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen has been scheduled for Wednesday.
(IANS)
