"Anti-Women, Anti-Bengali": Mamata Banerjee Slams Poll Body Over Officers' Removal

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today attacked the BJP and the Election Commission over the removal of top bureaucrats in West Bengal, hours after the poll body move saw her top officers losing their posts in the run-up to a high-stakes state election.

The removals included that of the chief secretary, the top bureaucratic post under the chief minister, Nandini Chakravorty, a move that she alleged was "anti-women" and "anti-Bengali".

Banerjee alleged that the decision was taken by the EC at the behest of the opposition party. "You have removed (my) officers and put those of BJP's choice on duty," the chief minister alleged in her public speech after a rally where she took up the LPG concerns across the country.

The chief minister said she came to know about the bureaucratic reshuffle only after midnight.

Read: Election Commission's Reshuffle Hours After Poll Announcement, Trinamool Hits Back

"A Bengali woman, Nandini Chakraborty, was serving as the chief secretary. You are not merely anti-Bengali; you are also hostile toward non-Bengalis, and I will prove it. You ousted Chakraborty with brute force and humiliation, unceremoniously shoving her out past 12:30 am. In your zeal to act as stooges for the BJP, you did not even deem it necessary to consult the state government once," charged a defiant Banerjee.

The EC has appointed Dushyant Nariala, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch, as Chakravorty's replacement.

Besides, the state's top cop Peeyush Pandey, Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratm Sarkar, and West Bengal's Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena have also been replaced ahead of the elections. These officials will not be given any election assignment, the poll body asserted.

Pointing out that Meena and Pandey are not Bengalis, Banerjee said, "This demonstrates that you have removed not only Bengalis but also competent non-Bengali officers. It is evident that you are hand-picking and selecting only those who are willing to do the BJP's bidding."

Read: 2021 Redux? Suvendu Adhikari Takes Fight To Mamata Banerjee's Kolkata Seat

"Whichever officers you send here, they will all work for us. They will work for the people, and they will work for Bengal," she said, referring to the EC.

The EC had earlier been on Banerjee's target over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter rolls in Bengal, which saw the deletion of over 60 lakh voters ahead of the elections scheduled in two phases, April 23 and 29.

Speaking at today's rally, Banerjee claimed that the BJP promises welfare schemes before the elections, and once the elections are over, if the BJP comes to power, they will send bulldozers to the homes of people.

The chief minister also claimed that her government has reduced unemployment by 40% and that it respects every segment of the society and those from other states who work in West Bengal.

Attacking the central government over LPG concerns, Banerjee said people are being made to stand in a queue and that they would soon ensure that the government falls out of line. The centre maintains that though LPG remains "a matter of concern," there is no dry out at the distribution centres amid the Middle East war. 

Banerjee also attacked the BJP over the attack on her cabinet minister Sashi Panja's house on Saturday and dared the rival party to attack her house or that of other Trinamool leaders. "We know how to resist," she said.