The Election Commission (EC) on Monday issued orders for the removal of six Home Secretaries — including the top bureaucrats from Gujarat, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh including the transfer of West Bengal’s Director-General of Police Rajiv Kumar, who is considered close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The reshuffle, not an uncommon move by the Election Commission before major polls, also includes the transfer of the Home Secretaries of Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, as well as the secretaries of the general administrative departments of the Chief Ministers of Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh.
This aims towards upholding the principles of free, fair and transparent for the conduct of 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“The officials who have been removed in these seven States were found to be holding dual charges in the office of Chief Minister in respective States which may potentially compromise or be seen to be compromising the impartiality and neutrality required during the electoral process, especially in matters relating to law and order, deployment of forces,” sources said.
Sources said the decision to shift the West Bengal DGP was taken as the officer was removed earlier too from active election management-related duty during the 2016 Assembly election in the State and in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The EC has asked the State Chief Secretary to post Rajeev Kumar to a “non-election” related assignment, and, as an interim arrangement, post an officer immediately junior to him as DGP.
The State has been asked to send a panel of three officers who would be posted as the DGP. Criticising the removal of West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, the Trinamool Congress on Monday claimed it was a glaring example of BJP’s “control” over the Election Commission (EC).
Addressing a Press conference in Kolkata, TMC general secretary Kunal Ghosh claimed that BJP was gripped by the fear of losing the Lok Sabha seats in the state. “The BJP is trying to misuse all institutions, including the EC. They are even meddling with the appointment of the election commissioners by changing the recruitment panel. The step taken today is a glaring example of the BJP’s control over the EC,” Ghosh said.
“It doesn’t matter if BJP changes even 100 such officers because the people of Bengal are with Mamata,” he added. Elections for the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal will be held over seven phases, beginning on April 19.
Kumar was appointed as the DGP in December 2023 after the retirement of Manoj Malaviya. Previously, he has served as the chief of Kolkata Police and Bidhannagar Police.
He also headed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Special Task Force (STF), and served as the principal secretary of the department of information technology and electronics. In 2019, the CBI accused Kumar of allegedly suppressing and destroying evidence in the investigation of the Saradha scam while leading a SIT set up by the State Government to probe the matter.
This step comes as part of the Commission’s resolve and commitment to maintaining a level playing field and ensuring the integrity of the electoral process, which has been emphasised by CEC Rajiv Kumar time and again and recently during the Press Conference for announcement of Schedule for General Elections 2024.
The Commission meeting chaired by Rajiv Kumar, comprising Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu was held on Monday at 12 pm,” the sources said.
IPS officer Vivek Sahay was appointed as the new DGP of West Bengal on Monday, shortly after Rajeev Kumar was removed from the position by EC. Vivek Sahay is a 1988 batch IPS officer of the West Bengal cadre.
He has previously served as the Director General (DG), Provisioning and the Director General of Home Guards. Sahay was also in charge of Mamata’s security, however, the Election Commission suspended him in March 2021 following an attack on the CM which caused her severe leg injuries. He was later reinstated to the post of Director of Security.
