EC transfers Home Secretaries of 6 states, Bengal DGP ahead of Lok Sabha polls

According to sources, the home secretaries were transferred as they held additional charge of posts in their respective Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) as well. While there were no complaints against them, the transfers were carried out to ensure that there was no impression of bias, said sources.

The poll panel also instructed the Maharashtra government to remove Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and all additional commissioners and deputy commissioners who had remained in their posts for over three years. According to the EC policy, all officials who have been in the same post for three years or more have to be transferred before elections.

The EC also removed the General Administration Department (GAD) Secretaries of Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh governments, as they held additional charge in their respective CMOs.

Monday’s orders were the first set of transfers after the EC announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. When contacted, an EC spokesperson declined to comment on the transfers.

In the run-up to the announcement, the EC had, on February 24, asked state governments to follow the transfer policy in letter and spirit, and not transfer officials who had completed three years in one district to another district in the same parliamentary constituency. This, the EC said, was to ensure the level playing field was not disturbed.

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