Election Commission of India building. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Barely hours after the announcement of the West Bengal Assembly poll schedule, the Election Commission of India (ECI) removed two of the top bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, of the Mamata Banerjee administration.

The commission appointed Dushyant Nariala, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch, as the State’s Chief Secretary, and said Ms. Chakravorty would be kept out of poll-related assignments.

The poll panel also removed West Bengal’s Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena.

In a letter to the State Government sent on Sunday night (March 15, 2026), the poll panel also directed the appointment of Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch IAS officer, as principal secretary, Home and Hill Affairs.

“…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 Kumar Mishra, said.

The ECI said the decision to remove the two officers was taken following a review of the poll preparedness of the State.

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 p.m. on Monday (March 16).

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.

Some corners of the State’s political circles maintained that the move was carried out to ensure administrative impartiality during the elections.

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

Published – March 16, 2026 11:19 am IST