A day after the Election
Commission directed the
removal of eight officials
from poll duty in West
Bengal prompting an
enraged Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee to
threaten to defy the order,
the state government on
Tuesday requested the poll
panel to reconsider its
decision.
"Yes, the Chief Secretary has
written to the Commission
urging it to reconsider its
decision regarding removal
of the officers", a highly
placed source told PTI.
He said that in his letter,
the Chief Secretary has also
pointed out that the
transfers were made and
their replacements in the
vacancies were done without
consulting the state
government.
The EC had on Monday
ordered removal of five SPs,
a District Magistrate and
two ADMs following
complaints against them.
It had also named the
officers who are to replace
the incumbent SPs, the DM
and ADMs.
Addressing an election rally,
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee had on Monday
taken serious exception to
the transfers and said she
was not going to accept the
order.
She had said, "I will not
remove a single officer. Let
the Commission do it. The
transfers were made without
consulting the state
government. I heard that
the five SPs have been given
transfer orders. Without
even asking the state, the
(new) names have also been
decided".
The state's Chief Electoral
Officer Sunil Gupta told PTI,
"I heard that the Chief
Secretary has written a
letter to the CEC this
morning. I don't know the
content. Please ask the
Chief Secretary about it."
To a question if he had any
communication from the
CEC's office in this regard,
Gupta said, "I don't have
any communication as yet."
West Bengal Advocate
General Bimal Chatterjee
refused to comment on
whether he was consulted
by the state government on
a possible crisis over the
Chief Minister statement
that the EC directive would
not be followed.
"I will not say anything on
this," he said when
contacted over phone.
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