The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday ordered immediate transfer of two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and six Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in Odisha ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state amid allegations by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of unholy nexus between officials and the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
In a letter to Odisha chief secretary PK Jena, ECI secretary Rakesh Kumar asked to transfer these eight officers to non-election related posts. The officers are inspector general of police (central range) Ashis Singh, Cuttack district collector Vineet Bharadwaj, Jagatsinghpur district collector Parul Patwari, Cuttack deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Kanwar Vishal Singh, Khordha superintendent of police (SP) Jugal Kishore Banoth, Rourkela SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra, Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek Kumar and Angul SP Sudhanshu Sekhar Mishra.
The Commission has asked the Odisha chief secretary to provide a panel of three eligible officers to replace each of the above posts. “Kindly send a compliance report to the Commission latest by 5pm, April 2,” the ECI’s letter said.
The ECI’s order came a couple of days after the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Berhampur, Pradip Panigrahy, alleged that an IG-ranked IPS officer was threatening politicians in Ganjam district asking them not to leave the BJD.
Apart from the BJP, other political parties had earlier apprised the ECI accusing several officers of biasness, misusing their position and working for a particular party.
{{/usCountry}}Apart from the BJP, other political parties had earlier apprised the ECI accusing several officers of biasness, misusing their position and working for a particular party.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier on March 21, the ECI issued transfer orders for non-cadre officers posted at leadership positions such as district magistrate (DM) and superintendent of police (SP) in Odisha. The officers were collector of Dhenkanal and SPs of Deogarh and Cuttack Rural.
Last month, the state unit of the BJP had alleged that as many as eight police officials in the Bhubaneswar Parliamentary constituency had remained in the same place of posting for over 10 years and have not been transferred, violating ECI guidelines.