Fresh police reshuffle in Bengal replaces key regional heads and city commissioners, indicating a broader administrative reset as tensions continue between the state government and the Election Commission.
Bengal Assembly Elections: ECI orders withdrawal of security cover for tainted leaders, seeks status report from police
The Election Commission on Tuesday ordered the transfer of 19 senior police officers in poll-bound West Bengal, including Additional Director Generals (ADGs), Superintendents of Police (SPs) and city police commissioners, in the latest round of administrative reshuffle ahead of Assembly elections.
Among the key changes, the ADGs in charge of North and South Bengal have been replaced. IPS officer Rajesh Kumar Singh has been appointed as the new ADG of South Bengal, while K Jayaraman will take charge as ADG of North Bengal. Both officers are from the 1997 batch, according to an official statement.
Advertisement
The Commission has also named new commissioners of police for Howrah, Barrackpore, Asansol-Durgapur, and Chandannagar.
Advertisement
The move comes amid a widening confrontation between the state government and the poll body over a series of transfers carried out since the election schedule was announced.
A day earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, objecting to what she described as sweeping and unexplained transfers of IAS and IPS officers. In her letter, she said the removals were carried out without any specific allegations of misconduct or election-related lapses.
Banerjee also pointed out that key administrative positions were changed within hours of the election notification, without consulting the state government or following established practices. She warned that such steps could weaken the principles of cooperative federalism and affect the credibility of the Election Commission.
“A matter of deep concern and surprise is that the heads of the administrative machinery in the state of West Bengal have been removed within hours of the press release announcing the General Election to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, 2026. This has been done in an arbitrary manner, without seeking a panel of officers from the state government and without adhering to the established convention that has guided ECI–state institutional functioning during previous elections,” the Chief Minister wrote.
“It also undermines the spirit of cooperative federalism and the principles of our democratic polity, which form a basic feature of our constitutional governance. The Election Commission of India, as a constitutional authority of the highest standing, is expected not only to exercise its powers but also to uphold the spirit and values inherent in India’s federal structure,” she added.
The latest police reshuffle follows an earlier round of overnight transfers that saw the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General of Police and the Kolkata Police Commissioner moved out of their posts soon after the poll announcement.
Advertisement
