<p>New Delhi: Barely hours after the announcement of the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/west-bengal">West Bengal</a> assembly poll schedule, the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/election-commission">Election Commission</a> removed two of the top bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, of the Mamata Banerjee administration.</p><p>The commission appointed Dushyant Nariala, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch, as the state's chief secretary, and said Chakravorty would be kept out of poll-related assignments.</p><p>The poll panel also removed West Bengal's Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena.</p>.West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | EC defends two-phase polls decision, vows strict action against violence .<p>In a letter to the state government sent on Sunday night, the poll panel also directed the appointment of Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch IAS officer, as principal secretary, Home and Hill Affairs.</p><p>"...the officers transferred out shall not be posted in any election-related posts till the completion of elections," the communication, signed by commission secretary Sujeet Kr Mishra, said.</p><p>The EC said the decision to remove the two officers was taken following a review of the poll preparedness of the state.</p><p>The poll panel said its directions are to be implemented with immediate effect, and asked for a report of the joining of the two officers in their respective offices by 3 pm on Monday.</p><p>The reshuffle, unprecedented in West Bengal's recent administrative history, was enforced in the wake of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress dispensation's constant criticism of the poll body over the ongoing SIR exercise in the state.</p><p>Some corners of the state's political circles maintained that the move was carried out to ensure administrative impartiality during the elections.</p><p>The assembly polls will be held in the state on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.</p>
<p>New Delhi: Barely hours after the announcement of the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/west-bengal">West Bengal</a> assembly poll schedule, the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/election-commission">Election Commission</a> removed two of the top bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, of the Mamata Banerjee administration.</p><p>The commission appointed Dushyant Nariala, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch, as the state's chief secretary, and said Chakravorty would be kept out of poll-related assignments.</p><p>The poll panel also removed West Bengal's Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena.</p>.West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | EC defends two-phase polls decision, vows strict action against violence .<p>In a letter to the state government sent on Sunday night, the poll panel also directed the appointment of Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch IAS officer, as principal secretary, Home and Hill Affairs.</p><p>"...the officers transferred out shall not be posted in any election-related posts till the completion of elections," the communication, signed by commission secretary Sujeet Kr Mishra, said.</p><p>The EC said the decision to remove the two officers was taken following a review of the poll preparedness of the state.</p><p>The poll panel said its directions are to be implemented with immediate effect, and asked for a report of the joining of the two officers in their respective offices by 3 pm on Monday.</p><p>The reshuffle, unprecedented in West Bengal's recent administrative history, was enforced in the wake of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress dispensation's constant criticism of the poll body over the ongoing SIR exercise in the state.</p><p>Some corners of the state's political circles maintained that the move was carried out to ensure administrative impartiality during the elections.</p><p>The assembly polls will be held in the state on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.</p>