EC transfers Bengal IAS, IPS officers, CM Mamata calls poll body ‘BJP’s cousin’

The ECI transferred additional director general of police (west zone) Sanjay Singh. District magistrate of Jhargram, Ayesha Rani, was replaced by Joyeshi Dasgupta. Arijit Sinha was posted as superintendent of police of Diamond Harbour in place of Avijit Banerji and Debashish Dhar was sent to Cooch Behar as superintendent of police and the incumbent, K Kannan, was transferred.

The Election Commission of India on Thursday transferred four Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer in West Bengal prior to the first phase of assembly polls, prompting chief minister Mamata Banerjee to flare up and call the ECI a “cousin” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), her principal adversary.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a public meeting in Midnapore on Thursday. (PTI PHOTO.)

“The way the EC is working, one may call it the BJP’s cousin. The BJP knows that it has lost the elections and has started transferring our officers out of panic. None of this will have any effect. The officers you are bringing in (as replacement) are our people as well. You (ECI) can send me a notice for saying this. It will make no difference to me,” Banerjee said at her election rally at Dantan in West Midnapore district.

News agency PTI reported that the ECI transferred additional director general of police (west zone) Sanjay Singh. District magistrate of Jhargram, Ayesha Rani, was replaced by Joyeshi Dasgupta. Arijit Sinha was posted as superintendent of police of Diamond Harbour in place of Avijit Banerji and Debashish Dhar was sent to Cooch Behar as superintendent of police and the incumbent, K Kannan, was transferred. In Kolkata, deputy commissioner of police (south division) Sudhir Neelkantha was replaced by Akash Magharia, reported PTI.