File photo of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
Ending its stand-off with the Election Commission, the
Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal has agreed to transfer five officials in the state and replace them with those that the commission has chosen.
"Five officers will be transferred tomorrow... The officers who have been transferred will be sent back to their old postings after the elections... I don't disrespect the Election Commission but they are playing political games," the West Bengal chief minister said on Tuesday evening.
Ms Banerjee relented a few hours after the Election Commission rejected a face-saver formula suggested by her government, making it clear that it must transfer the officials that the commission had asked for by 10 am on Wednesday. The commission had ordered the transfer of officials to ensure free and fair elections in West Bengal, it said, after receiving complaints against them.
After refusing on Monday to comply with the commission's order to transfer five superintendents of police, one district magistrate and two additional district magistrates, the West Bengal government appeared to climb down earlier on Tuesday, agreeing to the transfer, but seeking that they be replaced with officials of its choice.
The tone of compromise was very different from the one struck by a furious Ms Banerjee on Monday when she said, "I challenge the Election Commission to remove anybody while I am in charge."
She had argued that poll panel could not transfer officers and name new ones without consulting her government and had said, "You will only listen to the Congress...to make the Congress win, BJP win. You will have to take my resignation. I will not remove a single officer, not while I am Chief Minister. Do what you like."
On Tuesday, the West Bengal chief secretary reportedly wrote to the Election Commission requesting that it reconsider its decision on the transfers. He also reportedly listed names of officials in his letter and requested the poll panel to choose replacements from them if it insisted on the transfers. Sources said the West Bengal government's list did not include officials that the Election Commission picked as replacements.
West Bengal begins polling from April 17 in five phases.