The ECI announced Lok Sabha polling dates on Saturday (File).
The Election Commission on Monday afternoon issued orders for the removal of six Home Secretaries - including the top bureaucrats from Gujarat, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.
The ECI also directed the transfer of Rajeev Kumar, Bengal's Director-General of Police, the top cop of a state that has seen several instances of poll-related violence in recent years. Vivek Sahay, who was Director-General and Commandant of the Home Guards, has been appointed the new Bengal DGP.
The re-shuffle, not an uncommon move by the Election Commission before major polls, also included the transfer of the Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand Home Secretaries, as well as senior officials attached to the offices of the Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh Chief Ministers.
In addition, Iqbal Singh Chahal, who is Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and other officials in municipalities across Maharashtra, was removed too.
All of this comes less than a month before the 2024 Lok Sabha poll; the ECI on Saturday said voting will begin on April 19 and run over seven phases till June 1.
This is, in fact, the first re-jig by the ECI since it announced polling dates, and it came after a meeting of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and his two associates, the newly-appointed Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. The poll panel has underlined its commitment to a level playing field for all parties in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, as well as state by-polls over the next 100 days.
Sources said the personnel removed were found to be holding dual charge in the offices of the respective chief ministers of each state, and this could compromise, or be seen to be compromising, required neutrality, particularly in relation to law-and-order before, during and after polling.
For example, in the case of Uttar Pradesh, Sanjay Prasad - the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath - had been given additional charge of the Home Department in 2022.
Bengal's ruling Trinamool has hit out at the removal of Mr Kumar, who is seen by the opposition as be close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party. In the past, the state government has also questioned the last-minute re-shuffle of senior officials so close to an election, arguing it hampers prep work.
Senior leader Kunal Ghosh accused the saffron party of "trying their best to grab organisations like the ECI..." to ensure its success when the state votes across five phases beginning April 26.
"The BJP is trying to help their state unit because they know, in the election, BJP will be defeated in most of Bengal's seats. The BJP may transfer a few officers but the public is with the Trinamool Congress and didi (as Ms Banerjee is referred to)," he said.
Bengal has frequently witnessed violence during polling season; in June last year over a dozen people were killed across the state as voting for a panchayat election was underway.
The Trinamool accused the opposition of instigating violence and criticised central forces for their failure to protect voters, while the Congress claimed the state had let thugs loose on the people.
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While announcing the dates on Saturday, the Chief Election Commissioner said the poll panel would take a very dim view of any violence during the election. Mr Kumar said the ECI is prepared to come down hard on any such incident. "We're putting political parties on notice," he declared.
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