NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday ordered the immediate replacement of the inspector-in-charge (IC) of Nandigram Police Station in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district, a day before polling in the Assembly by-election.
In an order issued on Monday afternoon, the Commission directed the state government to implement the change immediately and submit a compliance report by the evening. The ECI did not specify the reason for the sudden transfer, which comes a day before voting in the constituency.
The West Bengal government subsequently informed the Commission that Ajay Kumar Mishra, who was serving as the Nandigram police station IC, had been replaced by Debasish Sarkar, the IC of the district traffic control room in East Midnapore, officials said.
Polling for the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly by-elections will be held on Tuesday, with counting scheduled for October 9. Authorities have made extensive security arrangements for the two constituencies, deploying 71 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).
Nandigram will have 37 CAPF companies, while 34 companies will be deployed in Rejinagar. In addition, 15,119 state police personnel will be deployed across the two constituencies, according to election authorities.
As many as 638 polling stations — 323 in Nandigram and 315 in Rejinagar — have been identified as sensitive, accounting for nearly 24 per cent of the booths in the two constituencies.
The Nandigram by-election was necessitated after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in this year’s Assembly elections, chose to retain Bhabanipur and vacated the Nandigram seat.
The Rejinagar by-election was triggered after All India United People’s Party (AJUP) leader Humayun Kabir, who won both Rejinagar and Naoda, decided to retain Naoda.