JOIN USAfter falling in line with the Election Commission’s (EC) orders to transfer a handful of senior police and administrative officials, West Bengal government took the necessary steps to ensure the order is put in effect within the deadline and replaced the mentioned officials by 10 am on Wednesday.
The transfers ended the drama that had unfolded since Monday after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dared the poll panel to take action against her when she refused to execute the transfers the EC had asked, which she claimed was not done in consultation with the state government.
Things fell in line after Banerjee gave in on late Tuesday evening, despite maintaining a defiant face.
Complying with the EC’s order, the state government on Wednesday removed seven officials from their existing posts and brought in different ones as desired by the poll panel. “We have executed the Election Commission order today and a letter in this regard has already been sent to the EC,” state Home Secretary Basudeb Banerjee told a news agency in the city on Wednesday.
The EC had directed state Chief Secretary Sanjay Mitra to execute the order by 10:00 am on Wednesday.
The replaced officials included superintendents of police Bharati Ghosh of West Midnapore and Jhargram police district, Humayun Kabir of Murshidabad, R K Yadav of Malda, S M H Mirza of Burdwan and Sanjay Bansal, the district magistrate of North 24 Parganas.