Kolkata, March 18 – The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday decided to send two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers from the West Bengal cadre, both holding the rank of departmental secretaries, as central observers to other states.
One of the two officers is Priyanka Singla, an IAS officer from the 2012 batch of the West Bengal cadre, currently posted as Special Secretary in the state Civil Defence and Disaster Management Department.
The other is P. Mohangandhi, an IAS officer from the 2004 batch of the West Bengal cadre, currently posted as Secretary in the state Commerce and Industries Department.
Earlier in the day, the ECI had also decided to send Public Works Department (PWD) Secretary Antara Acharya and Food Processing Secretary Parvez Ahmed Siddique as central observers to other states where elections are due.
However, both Siddique and Acharya had requested the ECI to reconsider the decision, citing the heavy workload in their respective departments.
Earlier, on March 17, Jagdish Prasad Meena, then Home Secretary of West Bengal, who was removed from the post by the ECI hours after announcing the two-phase elections in the state, was later shifted by the Commission to Tamil Nadu as a central poll observer.
The Commission had also removed Nandini Chakrabarty, then Chief Secretary of West Bengal, from the post on the same night the polling dates were announced, and barred her from participating in the election process in the state.
While Dushyant Nariala replaced Chakrabarty, Shanghamitra Ghosh replaced Meena. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal strongly criticised the removal of Chakrabarty and Meena, and also wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, raising objections.
The two-phase elections in West Bengal will be held on April 23 and April 29. The results will be announced on May 4.