ECI cracks whip in Bengal: Chief Secretary, Home Secretary removed hours after poll announcement

The poll body replaced Chakraborty with Dushyant Nariala, while Sanghamitra Ghosh was appointed as Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs, in place of Meena.

The ECI has also barred Chakraborty and Meena from holding any election-related posts until the completion of the Assembly polls.

“The directions of the Election Commission should be implemented with immediate effect and a compliance report in respect of joining of Dushyant Nariala and Sanghamitra Ghosh be sent by 3 pm on March 16 (Monday),” an ECI letter said.

Nariala is a 1993-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre who has served in several senior administrative roles in the state government. In 2024, he was promoted to the Apex Pay Scale as Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) in the state administration.

Ghosh, on the other hand, is a 1997-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre and a senior bureaucrat in the West Bengal government. She is currently serving as Principal Secretary, Women & Child Development and Social Welfare Department.

Earlier on Sunday, the Election Commission of India announced a two-phase Assembly election in West Bengal, one of the five states — along with a Union Territory — where polls are due.

The elections in West Bengal will be held on April 23 and April 29, while the results for all states will be declared on May 4.

Meanwhile, questions over adjudicated cases under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process continue to linger as judicial officers in West Bengal and neighbouring states are still verifying around 60 lakh forms.

In its last hearing, the Supreme Court directed the formation of an appellate bench to hear appeals against deletions from the adjudicated cases.

The election announcement has further complicated the scenario as questions on whether the supplementary SIR list could be published within the cutoff date of nomination filing.