GUWAHATI/RANCHI: The Election Commission (EC) on Monday transferred five district commissioners and as many district senior superintendents of police (SSPs) in Assam. In a notification, the commission ordered that Dr P Uday Praveen be posted as District Election Officer (DEO) of Kokrajhar, Srishti Singh as DEO of Majuli, Kimnei Changsan as DEO of Baksa, Madhusudan Nath as DEO of Chirang and Jay Vikash as DEO of Udalguri.
In another notification, the Commission ordered that Somalin Shubhdarshini be posted as SSP of Majuli, R Sheetal Kumar as SSP of South Salmara, Anchal Chauhan as SSP of Sadiya, Sudhakar Singh as SSP of Chirang and Mohan Lal Meena as SSP of Dhemaji districts.
The poll body also sought the names of all IAS officers from the 2010 batch till 2021 “for consideration of the Commission for their deployment as DEO”. The EC appointed retired IAS officer Manjeet Singh as special observer for the Assam polls. The process of filing of nominations commenced on Monday and will continue till March 23.
Meanwhile, in the poll-bound state, the alliance between the BJP and the regional United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) seemed to be strained. The first indication of it was when the BJP finalised its alliance for all 15 seats in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). The BJP had sidelined the UPPL while stitching a seat-sharing deal with the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), the UPPL’s biggest rival.
On March 9, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had told the media that the BPF would contest 11 seats and the BJP from the remaining four. Later that day, UPPL president Pramod Boro was elected to the Rajya Sabha uncontested, and he had told the media that he was the official declared candidate of the UPPL and none other.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is also likely to contest on 31 seats in the Assembly polls in Assam. According to senior leaders, the party believes that Assam has a significant tribal population, including a population originally belonging to Jharkhand, whose social and economic aspirations require stronger representation. The party leaders, however, are reluctant to disclose details in this regard.