Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly criticised the Election Commission of India over the transfer of several senior officials ahead of the state assembly elections, accusing the poll body of exceeding constitutional limits.
In a sharply worded letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the chief minister expressed deep shock at the functioning of the Commission and alleged that its actions had crossed all boundaries of decency and constitutional propriety. The letter is the eighth she has written to the poll panel chief on the issue.
Banerjee claimed the Commission had acted with apparent bias since the start of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and had ignored concerns raised by the state government. She argued that decisions were taken without proper consideration of ground realities or the interests of the people.
The chief minister also pointed out that the state government had approached the Supreme Court of India regarding the matter, noting that the court had acknowledged the concerns and issued directions which are currently being followed.
According to Banerjee, the Commission had unilaterally transferred several top officials soon after the announcement of the assembly polls. These included the chief secretary, home secretary, director general of police and several district magistrates and police officers.
She said the large scale transfers were carried out without any clear reasons and despite the absence of allegations regarding violations of election rules or the Model Code of Conduct. The chief minister also questioned the timing of the transfers of district election officers during the ongoing revision of electoral rolls, suggesting that the move could affect the handling of pending cases.
Banerjee further criticised the decision to deploy state police officers as observers in other election bound states, calling the step arbitrary and an overreach of authority.
She warned that the sudden removal of senior officers could affect governance, disaster preparedness and law and order, particularly during the storm prone months of March and April.
Elections to the 294 member West Bengal assembly are scheduled to be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting of votes set for May 4.
