Kolkata, March 18 The Election Commission intensified preparations for the West Bengal Assembly elections on Wednesday, ordering a fresh reshuffle of senior officers, assigning two secretaries as observers in other states, and deploying 13 IAS and five IPS officers in key poll management roles, an official said.
Priyanka Shingla, special secretary of the civil defence and disaster management department, and P Mohan Gandhi, secretary of industries, commerce and enterprises, were sent to other states as election observers, he said.
In a separate order, 13 IAS officers were appointed as district magistrates (DMs), who will also serve as district election officers (DEOs), placing them at the center of poll supervision.
Officers Jitin Yadav (Cooch Behar), Sandeep Ghosh (Jalpaiguri), Vivek Kumar (Uttar Dinajpur), Rajanvir Singh Kapur (Malda) and R Arjun (Murshidabad) have been posted as DMs-cum-DEOs.
Similarly, Srikant Palli has been appointed as DM-cum-DEO of Nadia, Sweta Agarwal in Purba Bardhaman, Shilpa Gorisaria in North 24 Parganas, Abhishek Kumar Tiwary in South 24 Parganas, Harishankar Panicker in Darjeeling and T Balasubramanian in Alipurduar.
Smita Pandey has been posted as Municipal Commissioner of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and DEO of Kolkata North, while Randhir Kumar will serve as DEO of Kolkata South.
Five IPS officers were also transferred as deputy inspectors general (DIGs), including Rathod Amitkumar Bharat (Raiganj Range), Ajeet Singh Yadav (Murshidabad), Shrihari Pandey (Bardhaman), Kankar Prosad Barui (Presidency Range), and Anjali Singh (Jalpaiguri).
"These officers will play a crucial role in ensuring free, fair and transparent elections. Many will also function in observer capacities to closely monitor poll preparedness and conduct at the district level," a senior officer of the Election Commission said.
In a late evening development, the EC appointed IPS officers Murlidhar Sharma and Waquar Raza as observers for the Tamil Nadu election. Sharma is currently CP Bidhannagar, while Raza serves as CP Siliguri. Both have been directed to report immediately.
The poll panel has also deployed IPS officers Abhijit Banerjee and Dhritiman Sarkar in poll-bound Kerala, Sandip Karra (Nagaland bypoll) and Amandeep in Tamil Nadu as police observers.
The EC has so far appointed 15 West Bengal cadre IPS officers as observers for other state elections, after earlier removing them from their respective posts.
The reshuffle follows earlier changes after the election schedule was announced, including the transfer of Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, and the removal of DGP Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar.
Polling for the 294-member assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.