The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday deployed 478 poll observers for West Bengal and transferred 19 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, including at least two inspectors general, four commissioners, 12 superintendents, and a deputy commissioner (Kolkata).
A poll official said the ECI has deployed one general observer each of the 294 assembly constituencies, and 84 police and 100 expenditure observers. “The ECI has directed the observers to reach their respective assembly constituencies by Wednesday,” said the ECI official.
He added that the observers will publicly share their phone numbers so that political parties and voters may reach them and specify a fixed time to hear election-related grievances daily from candidates, their representatives, or any voter.
On Monday, the ECI transferred four IPS officers, including the state’s police chief and the Kolkata police commissioner. This came a day after the ECI announced a two-phase poll in West Bengal on April 23 and April 29. The ECI transferred the state’s chief secretary and home secretary late on Sunday night.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling the transfers arbitrary and unilateral. “Such sweeping transfers have been affected without any cogent reasons and without any allegation of violation, misconduct, or lapse in relation to the conduct of elections.”
She requested the ECI to refrain from adopting such unilateral measures, as they risk diluting its legacy, credibility, and institutional integrity and impinging upon the foundational principles of the constitutional framework.
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