Within hours of the announcement of the West Bengal Assembly election schedule, the Election Commission took a significant administrative decision by removing Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty from her post. The decision was made public on Sunday night, shortly after the poll dates were declared. Senior IAS officer Dushyant Nariyala has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary in her place.
The Election Commission has also removed Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena from his position. IAS officer Sanghamitra Ghosh will take over as the new Home Secretary.
The move comes immediately after the Model Code of Conduct came into force following the announcement of the election schedule. During this period, the Election Commission exercises special powers to ensure a fair and impartial electoral process. These powers allow the Commission to transfer or reassign government officials, administrative officers, and police personnel if necessary.
In the past as well, the Election Commission has ordered transfers of senior officials, including district police chiefs and even the Kolkata Police Commissioner, ahead of elections to maintain administrative neutrality. However, administrative circles say it is rare to see such high-level changes at the very top of the state bureaucracy immediately after the election announcement.
Dushyant Nariyala, a 1993-batch IAS officer, was previously serving as the Additional Chief Secretary of the North Bengal Development Department in the West Bengal government. Over the course of his administrative career, he has handled several important departments.
He has earlier overseen the Disaster Management and Civil Defence departments and also held additional responsibility for the Irrigation Department.
With Nandini Chakraborty being removed from the post, the Election Commission has now entrusted Nariyala with the responsibility of serving as the new Chief Secretary of West Bengal. The Commission has directed him to assume charge of the position by 3 PM on Monday.
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