2 months ago
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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stepped up her onslaught connected the Election Commission saying connected Thursday (March 19, 2026) that the canvass body’s “arbitrary removal of much than 50 elder officials” successful the State is “political interference of the highest order”.
She said specified enactment was a “systematic politicisation of institutions” and a “direct battle connected the Constitution”.
Hours aft announcing the Assembly polls successful West Bengal connected March 15, the Election Commission ordered the transfers of Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, and removed DGP Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar. On March, the canvass sheet ordered a reshuffle of elder officers, transferring 2 secretaries to different poll-bound States arsenic observers, and deploying 13 IAS and 5 IPS officers successful cardinal canvass absorption roles.
Ms. Banerjee said much than 50 elder officials had been “summarily and arbitrarily removed” adjacent earlier the ceremonial notification of elections. “The mode successful which the Election Commission has singled retired and targeted Bengal is not conscionable unprecedented – it is profoundly alarming,” she wrote connected X.
“Even earlier the ceremonial notification of elections, much than 50 elder officials... person been summarily and arbitrarily removed. This is not administrative action, this is governmental interference of the highest order,” she said.
Ms. Banerjee alleged that elder officers from agencies specified arsenic IB, STF and CID were being “selectively removed” from the State. “This is not governance. It reflects chaos, confusion, and sheer incompetence being passed disconnected arsenic authority,” she said.
Calling the concern arsenic “nothing abbreviated of an undeclared emergency”, Ms. Banerjee said determination was a “deliberate plan to prehend power of West Bengal done coercion and organization manipulation”.
The Trinamool supremo described the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls arsenic “deeply flawed” and went connected to accidental that astatine a clip erstwhile the process is underway and “over 200 lives person already been lost, the behaviour of the committee reflects a wide bias and an uncomfortable submission to governmental interests”.
She said that supplementary electoral rolls were yet to beryllium published “in wide disregard of the Supreme Court’s directions”.
Saying that the BJP has go “desperate”, the Chief Minister asked, “Why this relentless targeting of Bengal and its people? What restitution bash they deduce from forcing citizens, adjacent aft 78 years of Independence, to basal successful queues and beryllium their ain citizenship?”
