West Bengal govt seeks changes in EC’s central observer list, proposes alternative names for 9 IAS officers

Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Thursday wrote to the Election Commission, seeking changes in the list of central observers, while proposing alternative names for nine of the 15 IAS officers selected by the poll panel, a senior official said.

Officers for whom replacements have been suggested include the state’s home secretary, he said.

The proposal was sent due to “administrative and official requirements”, the official said.

“The state government has forwarded alternative names in place of nine IAS officers. The Election Commission will examine the proposal and take a final call,” he said.

The poll panel had recently published a list of 25 senior officials from West Bengal for deployment as central observers for the upcoming assembly elections in five states – West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

The list includes 15 IAS officers, including Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, and 10 IPS officers.

Police Commissioners of Howrah and Asansol also figure in the list.

Earlier, the Commission said it had sought names of officers from the state government on several occasions for the appointment of central observers.

“As no response was received within the stipulated timeframe, the Commission finalised and published the list on its own,” an EC official said.

Alongside the list, it issued detailed guidelines, mandating compulsory briefing sessions for all empanelled IAS and IPS officers, he said.