KOLKATA: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed 15 IAS officers, including West Bengal Home Secretary Jagdeesh Prasad Meena, and 10 IPS officers from the state as Central Election Observers for the five poll-bound states, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, further escalating the ongoing face-off between the Mamata Banerjee government and the ECI.
The appointment of a home secretary from a poll-bound state as a central election observer outside his or her home state is considered a rare move by the Commission.
The ECI has directed the IAS and IPS officers to attend a two-day orientation programme scheduled for February 5 and 6 in New Delhi at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management, in the presence of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
In a letter dated January 27 to West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, the Commission made it clear that strong disciplinary action would be taken against any officer who skips the training programme in Delhi.
According to sources in the Commission, the national poll body had repeatedly asked the West Bengal government to recommend names of IAS and IPS officers from the state for appointment as poll observers in other states, but the government allegedly did not respond.
The Commission has written at least five letters to the state secretariat, Nabanna, seeking a list of officers since November. Finally, the Commission sent a letter directly to Agarwal, the sources said.
A senior official at the state secretariat said the government may send a reply to the Commission protesting against the move.