KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress MP and lawyer Kalyan Banerjee on Monday moved the Calcutta High Court against the Election Commission of India (ECI) after it removed officers-in-charge (OCs) of 170 police stations, including Bhabanipur where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is a candidate, and block development officers (BDOs) and assistant returning officers (AROs) of 83 blocks ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
The petition has been filed in the court of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and the hearing is likely to be held on Tuesday.
Mamata has been alleging that administrative power had been “snatched” from her hands through the regular transfers of officers by the Commission, which she claimed was done at the behest of the BJP.
The ECI on Sunday removed 174 OCs and 83 BDOs cum AROs in the city and districts across the state 23 days before the upcoming assembly polls in the state. The two-phase assembly polls in 294 constituencies in the state will be held on April 23 and 29.
Significantly, the OCs of 31 police stations in Kolkata have been removed. The highest number of 14 BDOs and AROs have been transferred in East Midnapore district, while in South 24 Parganas the figure is 11.
Two BDOs and AROs have been removed in the Nandigram assembly constituency in East Midnapore where Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition and BJP MLA, has been nominated by the party again for the second time after 2021 when he had defeated the CM Mamata Banerjee by around 2000 votes.
Earlier, the commission had transferred numerous senior bureaucrats, including chief secretary Nandini Chakraborty and home secretary J P Meena, and IPS officers like director general of police (DGP) Peeyush Pandey, additional director general (ASG) of police, commissioner of police, Kolkata and others.
A source in the office of the state CEO said, “Transfers of bureaucrats, IPS officers and other administrative officials, who are directly involved in the election process, are nothing new and these initiatives are taken ahead of every election so that people can cast their voting rights freely in an atmosphere without fear and favour.”
“This time the Commission has decided to take drastic steps if any officer is found showing partisan roles while carrying out his or her duty in the elections,” he said requesting anonymity.
Earlier this week, the national poll panel had appointed ROs in 73 assembly constituencies, including the high-profile Bhabanipur seat.
The removal of the RO in Bhabanipur had prompted Mamata to question the neutrality of the Commission.
The commission appointed Surajit Roy, a BDO from Nandigram, as RO in Bhabanipur.
The TMC had alleged that Roy had links with Suvendu and had lodged an official complaint with the ECI.
However, in another reshuffle, carried out late Thursday night, 14 officers were removed across nine districts in the state.
These officials had been appointed only last Monday, making their removal within five days a significant and unusual administrative move.