EC transfers Home Secretaries of 6 states, removes Bengal DGP

To ensure a level-playing field for the upcoming 7-phase elections

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday transferred the Home Secretaries of six states — Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to ensure a level-playing field for the upcoming seven-phase elections to the Lok Sabha.

The poll body also directed the shunting out of West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar.

Furthermore, the secretaries of the general administrative departments of Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh have been removed.

The decision to shift the West Bengal DGP was taken as the officer was removed earlier too from active election management-related duty during the 2016 Assembly election in the state and in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the sources pointed out.

The EC has asked the state chief secretary to post Rajeev Kumar to a “non-election” related assignment, and, as an interim arrangement, post an officer immediately junior to him as DGP.

The state has been asked to send a panel of three officers who would be posted as the DGP.

The home secretaries of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were removed as they were found to be holding dual charges in the offices of the Chief Minister in the respective states. This may potentially compromise or be seen to be compromising the impartiality and neutrality required during the electoral process, especially in matters relating to law and order and deployment of forces, they noted.

The poll panel usually takes such action during the Parliamentary and the Assembly polls when an issue of conflict of interest or