Kolkata, April 3 – The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Friday the suspension of a joint block development officer (BDO), who was also the assistant returning officer (ARO), in the East Burdwan district of West Bengal, on charges of gross dereliction of duty.
The officer in question is Jyotsna Khatun, the joint BDO-cum-ARO of the Khandaghosh Development Block in East Burdwan district.
In a communication sent by ECI Secretary Sujeet Kumar Mishra to West Bengal Chief Secretary Dushyant Nariala, the latter was directed to immediately suspend Khatun and also initiate disciplinary action against her.
"The Commission's directions are being implemented immediately, and a compliance report is to be sent by 11 a.m. on April 4, 2026," the communication stated.
At the same time, the ECI also clarified on Friday that the number of bureaucrats and police officers transferred by the Commission after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is negligible compared to the large number of bureaucrats and police officers immediately before the MCC was enforced.
According to data provided by the ECI on Friday evening, just before the announcement of the special intensive revision (SIR) on October 27, 2025, until the elections were announced on March 16, 2026, the West Bengal government transferred a large number of 1,370 officers, including 97 from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), 146 from the Indian Police Service (IPS), 1,080 from the West Bengal Civil Service, and 47 from the West Bengal Police Service.
"This chaos created by the West Bengal government was corrected by the ECI with a minimal number of transfers," said a source within the Commission.
Meanwhile, the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) had issued a social media post on Friday afternoon, claiming that the ECI had mandated a zero-tolerance policy regarding conducting free, fair, and violence-free elections for the 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal in two phases later this month.