Poll Body vs Trinamool To Escalate? 25 Bengal Officers Made Central Observers

In a move that is likely to escalate the face-off between the Election Commission and the West Bengal government, the poll panel has picked 15 IAS officers, including the Bengal Home secretary, and 10 IPS officers from the state as central observers for election-bound states and asked them to join a briefing in New Delhi on February 5 and 6.

"In view of the forthcoming General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry, 2026, and Bye-Election(s), Briefing Meeting(s) of Central Observers has been fixed at India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIDEM), Plot no. 1, Sector 13, Dwarka, New Delhi- 110078, in three batches," a letter sent by the Commission to the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal states. 

The commission has also warned that unauthorised absence will lead to disciplinary proceedings. 

What will make Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress unhappy is that many of these senior bureaucrats are leading the implementation of key schemes in the state, on a war footing, ahead of the elections. The state's Home secretary, who plays a key role during elections, is also one of them. 

Election Commission sources said the poll body had written to the West Bengal government on the subject for the first time on November 24. The letter, by Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti to then Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, had sought a list of IAS and IPS officers from the 1996-2016 batches currently serving in the state. But the list was not given. 

The sources said three reminders - on December 2, December 9 and December 16 - yielded no response from the Bengal government. Since then, Manoj Pant has retired and Nandini Chakravorty has taken charge as the chief secretary.

The Trinamool Congress and the Election Commission have already crossed swords over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in the state. Apart from fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court, Banerjee has indicated she will visit New Delhi to step up her party's protests against the Election Commission.