Fresh overhaul in Suvendu Adhikari administration likely in near future, say officials

The article reporting the latest administrative changes was published, documenting the ongoing realignment in Bengal’s administration.

Witnesses said officers were seen leaving the venue with files on bureaucrats and police brass, signaling the scale of the reshuffle.

Sources indicated that IAS and IPS cadres from other states may be brought into Bengal on deputation, with reciprocal moves for the state’s own cadres being moved out.

The Commission stated the extensive reshuffles were necessitated by inputs from poll observers and intelligence agencies regarding law-and-order sensitivities and concerns about perceived neutrality of certain officers, drawing lessons from post-poll violence in 2021.

The Election Commission ordered the removal of 19 senior IPS officers (including six police commissioners and 13 district SPs), transfer of five DIG-rank officers, 11 district magistrates, 73 returning officers who concurrently served as subdivisional officers, 83 block development officers, and a broad network of police station officials.

Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty was moved out and replaced by Dushyant Nariala; Home Secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh took charge in place of J C Meena.

DGP Peeyush Pandey was removed; Siddh Nath Gupta appointed acting DGP; Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar was transferred and succeeded by Ajay Kumar Nand; Pandey was later reassigned as the State Director (Security), replacing Manoj Kumar Verma.

In a sweeping order, at least 46 WBCS (Executive) officers were reassigned to new postings across the state; 16 officers attached to the Chief Minister's Office were reassigned.

Mr. Bala substituted career civil servant Gautam Sanyal, the erstwhile principal secretary to Ms Banerjee, who held the position as co-terminus with the former CM.

Two former Bengal chief secretaries, Alapan Bandyopadhyay and H K Dwivedi, tendered their resignations as chief advisors to former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on May 5. Gupta replaced the two former chief secretaries.

Election Commission of India announced assembly elections and carried out an unprecedented pre-poll administrative upheaval across Bengal, transferring as many as 483 officials across multiple levels of governance, including the bureaucracy and police. The scale was described as dwarfing similar actions in other poll-bound states.