Bengal Chief Secretary, top cop transferred: Election Commission's big reshuffle

The Election Commission reshuffled West Bengal Police leadership by transferring the DGP and three senior officers, appointing Siddh Nath Gupta as the new DGP in-charge.

In Short

• Election Commission appoints Siddh Nath Gupta as new Bengal DGP
• Dushyant Nariala is new Chief Secretary, replaces Nandini Chakravarty
• Trinamool accuses BJP of attempting to interfere in state's administration

In a major reshuffle in the leadership of the West Bengal Police and bureaucracy ahead of the Assembly elections, the Election Commission removed the sitting Director General of Police (DGP) and Chief Secretary and appointed new officers to the posts.

Senior IAS officer Dushyant Nariala will replace Nandini Chakravarty as the Chief Secretary, while top police officer Siddh Nath Gupta has been appointed as the DGP, replacing Peeyush Pandey.

The Commission also transferred three other senior officers, including the Kolkata Police Commissioner.

According to the Commission’s directive, which came a day after it announced the state elections dates, 1992-batch IPS officer Siddh Nath Gupta has been posted as the Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG & IGP) in charge of West Bengal.

Gupta has handled complex law and order situations and overseen critical administrative transitions within the state’s police force in his three-decade-long career. He played an instrumental role in managing the law and order situations during the Nandigram unrest, the Lalgarh Naxal movement, and the Gorkhaland agitation in Darjeeling. He also has extensive experience in handling communal flare-ups and riots across the state.

Meanwhile, senior officer Ajay Kumar Nand has been appointed as the Commissioner of Kolkata Police, replacing Supratim Sarkar.

Natarajan Ramesh Babu has been appointed as the Director General of Correctional Services in the state, while Ajay Mukund Ranade has been posted as the Additional Director General and Inspector General of Police (Law and Order).

The Commission has directed the state government to ensure that the officers transferred out are not posted to any election-related positions until the completion of the elections.

It has also instructed the government to implement the appointments immediately and submit a compliance report confirming that the officers have assumed charge by 3 pm.

NEW CHIEF SECRETARY APPOINTED

Ahead of the changes in the police leadership, the Election Commission also ordered the appointment of Dushyant Nariala as the new Chief Secretary, replacing Nandini Chakravarty. The poll body specified that Chakravarty would be kept out of all election-related assignments.

In a letter to the state government sent on Sunday night, the poll authority has also directed the appointment of Sanghamitra Ghosh as principal secretary, Home and Hill Affairs.

The Commission said the decision to shunt out the two officers was taken following a review of the poll preparedness of the state.

TRINAMOOL SLAMS BJP

Reacting to the reshuffle, the Trinamool Congress accused the BJP and the Election Commission of attempting to interfere in the state's administration ahead of the polls. In a post on X, the party said that "no conspiracy can silence the will of Bengal," alleging that the removal of the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and DGP was being done "at Delhi's behest".

The party asserted that the people of the state stood firmly behind Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Citing party MP Sagarika Ghosh, the Trinamool Congress said that the mandate of Bengal’s people could not be suppressed and exuded confidence that the party would return to power for a fourth consecutive term.

Assembly polls will be held in the state on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.

The Trinamool Congress government and the Election Commission have been at loggerheads over a variety of issues, including the special intensive revision of the voters' list and remuneration for booth-level officers.

- Ends