New Delhi, March 16 The ruling Trinamool Congress party of West Bengal staged a day-long walkout from the Rajya Sabha on Monday, protesting the Election Commission's decision to remove the state's top bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, just hours after announcing the assembly poll schedule.
Raising the issue just before Zero Hour in the Upper House, AITC (All India Trinamool Congress) member Derek O'Brien condemned the poll panel's midnight move to reshuffle the state's top administrative hierarchy.
"In the dead of night, the chief secretary, the principal secretary, and the home secretary have been removed by the EC. They have all the power to do it," O'Brien said, adding that his party was walking out for the day in protest.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, said that the Election Commission is a constitutional authority, and that questioning its decisions in the House is neither appropriate nor productive.
"If every member wants to raise or question the decision of the constitutional authority, like the courts and EC, it is not wise. The EC has separate powers, and those powers have been entrusted to the authority," Rijiju said.
He also accused the AITC and Congress of "always attacking constitutional bodies," and said that they were "misusing the time of this House".
The Election Commission, just hours after announcing the West Bengal assembly poll schedule, removed Chief Secretary Chakravorty and Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena from their posts.
The Commission appointed Dushyant Nariala, a 1993-batch IAS officer, as the new state chief secretary, while Chakravorty was kept out of poll-related assignments. Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch IAS officer, was appointed principal secretary, Home and Hill Affairs.
The reshuffle, unprecedented in West Bengal's recent administrative history, came amid the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government's sustained criticism of the poll body over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise in the state.
West Bengal assembly polls will be held on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.