Booth infra to transfer of officers: TMC govt versus EC, lines drawn

* A state PSU and infrastructure work

A state government-owned engineering and construction PSU, Mackintosh Burn, wrote to the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on October 13, seeking exemption from undertaking infrastructure overhaul in over 80,000 poll booths across the state ahead of the Assembly elections, expressing inability to carry out the work. Sources said that the company pleaded that since no agreement had been signed with the EC, it should be allowed to withdraw without penal action.

The Mackintosh letter came three months after the work was assigned to it by the PWD, drawing a sharp rebuke by the CEO. The poll officer warned Mackintosh’s board of directors of criminal proceedings in case the company refused to execute the work.

Amidst a stalemate over the matter, West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya moved the Calcutta High Court on January 14, saying the sudden withdrawal of Mackintosh Burn would disrupt the smooth conduct of the polls. On January 30, the court directed the EC and state government to file reports on the matter within a week.

* FIR against officers

On August 5 last year, the EC asked the Trinamool Congress government to suspend and book four officials and a contractual employee for alleged fraudulent registration of 127 voters using forged documents in the Baruipur Purba and Moyna Assembly constituencies.

The four included two West Bengal Civil Service officers serving as Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) – Debottam Dutta Choudhury (Baruipur Purba), and Biplab Sarkar (Moyna) – and two Assistant EROs – Tathagata Mondal (Baruipur), and Sudipta Das (Moyna).

After no action had been taken till August 13, the EC summoned the then Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to Delhi and gave him seven days’ time to act against the officers.

On the last day of the deadline, the four officers were suspended but the EC plea to also file an FIR against them was ignored.

Last month, the EC asked Nandini Chakraborty, who took over as West Bengal Chief Secretary on January 1, to report back within 72 hours on the matter. But this too saw no action.

Finally, the TMC government wrote to the EC saying departmental proceedings had been initiated against the four officers, and any action would follow only after that.

* Transfer of IAS officers

Between December 1, 2025, and January 21, 2026, the West Bengal government transferred or gave additional responsibilities to three IAS officers, Smita Pandey, Asvini Kumar Yadav and Randhir Kumar, who had been appointed by the EC as poll observers.

On January 27, the EC ordered Chief Secretary Chakraborty to withdraw the transfer orders. It added that during the SIR period, “the chief secretaries must ensure that no official involved in the SIR process is transferred without prior approval from the commission”.

The state government replied that it had basically sent the officers to “comparatively unimportant” posts, and that this would help them concentrate more on the SIR.

* FIR against MLAs

On January 14, the EC asked the District Electoral Officer (DEO) of Murshidabad to file an FIR against TMC Farakka MLA Manirul Islam for allegedly vandalising the local block office, and submit a compliance report by January 22. The FIR order followed Islam’s description of the EC’s previous notice to him as the panel acting against only “Rahim” and “not Ram”.

On January 22, another block office in Bengal was vandalised, this time in Itahar of North Dinajpur. According to police, after there were reports that a person had died due to tension over the SIR, a mob allegedly led by local TMC MLA Mosaraf Hossain people ransacked the office. The EC ordered an FIR against Hossain too.

Till date, no FIR has been filed against either Islam or Hossain by the district administration, with both the EC and state government silent on the matter lately.

* Home Secretary as Central poll observer

On January 27, the EC named Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena as one of the 15 Central observers for the coming Assembly elections across states, and asked Meena to attend a meeting of Central observers scheduled for February 5 and 6. The EC also asked the West Bengal CEO to ensure the presence of Meena and other officers at the meeting.

The state government wrote back to the EC seeking exemption for nine officers, including the Home Secretary, from observer duties, saying they were engaged in important duties of the state government, and suggesting alternative names.

On February 3, the EC replied saying the exemption request had been “rejected”. “Accordingly, the concerned officers may be directed to attend the Briefing Meeting on the set date and time for the respective Batch.”

* Special officers vs special officers

On January 27, the TMC government deputed “special officers” for 23 areas of the state to oversee what it described as its “developmental process”. The order said: “Senior officials of the State Government have been deployed in different districts / areas from time to time to oversee various development works under different flagship schemes, including Amader Para Amader Samadhan, Pathashree, etc.”

This was seen as a counter to the EC appointing former IAS officer Subrata Gupta as a “special roll” observer and 12 other roll observers in Bengal at the beginning of the SIR. After that, the EC has appointed other officers, taking the total number monitoring the SIR now to 34.

Besides this, the EC has around 7,000 “micro observers” overseeing the hearings as part of the SIR process.