Kolkata, March 19 – The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday ordered the deployment of six more Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers from the West Bengal cadre as central poll observers in other states going to polls.
Among the six IAS officers, two are of the rank of departmental secretaries. All six have been deployed as central poll observers to Tamil Nadu, which is also holding elections next month, like West Bengal.
“The six IAS officers deployed to Tamil Nadu are Preeti Goel (2013 batch IAS), Siyad N (2014 batch), Arvind Kumar Meena (2010 batch), Rani A. Ayesha (2009 batch), P. Ulaganathan (2006 batch), and Shama Parveen (2013 batch).
“All six have been assigned responsibilities as election observers in different districts of Tamil Nadu. Ulaganathan and Shama are secretaries to the state government.
“Ulaganathan is the Secretary of the state Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development Department. In addition, he also holds the charge of Secretary of the West Bengal Electronics Testing and Standards Department under the Department of Information Technology and Electronics.
“Shama, on the other hand, is the Secretary of the North Bengal Development Department. In addition, she also holds the additional charge of Principal Secretary of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA),” the party’s state committee member said.
On Wednesday, the ECI had deployed two other officers of the rank of departmental secretary as central observers to other states.
One of the two officers was Priyanka Singla, a 2012-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, currently posted as Special Secretary in the state Civil Defence and Disaster Management Department. The other was P. Mohangandhi, a 2004-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, currently posted as Secretary in the state Commerce and Industries Department.
Earlier on Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote another letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, expressing anguish over the large-scale transfer and deployment of bureaucrats and police officers from the state since the Model Code of Conduct came into force on Sunday afternoon.
She also accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of unconstitutionally undermining the authority of the elected state government.