Guwahati, March 16 The Election Commission transferred five District Election Officers (DEOs) and as many Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) on Monday, and appointed a Special Observer for Assam, a day after announcing the schedule for the assembly elections.
The DEOs of Kokrajhar, Majuli, Baksa, Chirang, and Udalguri have been transferred with immediate effect.
In a letter to Assam Chief Secretary Ravi Kota, the EC replaced Kokrajhar DEO Pankaj Chakraborty with Dr P Uday Praveen, Majuli's Ratul Pathak with Srishti Singh, and Baksa's Dhiraj Saud with Kimnei Changsan.
Chirang DEO Gakul Chandra Brahma has been replaced by Madhusudan Nath, and Udalguri's Pulak Patgiri by Jay Vikas.
All five transferred District Electoral Officers (DEOs) were Assam Civil Service (ACS) officials and have been replaced by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers.
The Election Commission had earlier in the day written to the chief secretary to provide the names of all IAS officers from the 2010 to 2021 batches.
The state has 35 districts. A DEO is a senior administrative official, typically the district magistrate or collector, appointed by the Election Commission.
Officials said the poll authority was not satisfied with the performance of various DEOs and wants to appoint new officials.
Earlier in the day, the SSPs of Majuli, South Salmara, Sadiya, Chirang, and Dhemaji districts were transferred with immediate effect.
Majuli SSP Haren Tokbi was replaced by Somalin Shubhdarshini, while R Sheetal Kumar replaced Mrinal Kumar Deka of South Salmara.
Sadiya SSP Jagadish Das was replaced with Anchal Chauhan, Chirang's Dhruba Bora with Sudhakar Singh, and Dhemaji's Swapnaneel Deka with Mohan Lal Meena.
The Commission's directives must be implemented immediately, and a compliance report regarding the officers joining their new posts must be sent by 11:00 am on Tuesday.
Furthermore, the officers transferred out shall not be posted in any election-related positions until the completion of the elections, the letter stated.
All five SSPs transferred were Assam Police Service (APS) officials and have been replaced by Indian Police Service (IPS) officers.
The Election Commission also appointed former bureaucrat Manjeet Singh as the special observer for Assam, with the mandate to update the poll panel on the election preparedness in the northeastern state.
The poll panel reminded that during his press conference on Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had assured that elections in all states, including Assam, would be held peacefully.
As the special observer, retired IAS officer Singh will visit Assam regularly to observe the election preparedness, conduct of the Assembly elections, and provide inputs to the poll body whenever necessary.
"As the eyes and ears of the Commission, the special observer will further ensure the smooth and impartial conduct of elections in Assam," the Election Commission said.
The elections to the 126-member Assam assembly will be held on April 9. Votes will be counted on May 4.