West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Election Commission and BJP of a deliberate design to seize control of the state ahead of assembly elections. She claimed over 50 senior officials were summarily removed. Banerjee described it as political interference of the highest order.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission (EC) and BJP on Thursday via a social media post ahead of next month's assembly elections. She alleged a 'deliberate design to seize control' of the state through transfers of over 50 senior officials, including the chief secretary, director general of police, home secretary, and Kolkata police commissioner, ordered within 24 hours of the poll schedule announcement. Banerjee described it as 'nothing short of an undeclared Emergency' driven by political vendetta. She accused the EC of singling out Bengal and pointed to political interference. During the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), over 63 lakh voters were deleted and over 60 lakh placed under adjudication, with supplementary rolls yet to be published. Banerjee wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, expressing shock over the transfers effected without reasons or MCC violations. She warned that removing officers familiar with local conditions during storm-prone March-April could hamper emergency responses. On Wednesday, the EC ordered transfers of 13 district magistrates or district electoral officers and five deputy inspectors general. Banerjee expressed solidarity with affected officers and vowed Bengal would resist. This follows her March 16 letter protesting similar moves.
