New Delhi: In a lightning strike on West Bengal’s administrative machinery, the Election Commission (EC) ordered the immediate removal of the state’s most powerful bureaucrats late Sunday night. The sweeping reshuffle, targeting the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary of Home, comes just hours after the poll body announced the schedule for the 2026 Assembly elections.
The EC’s directive effectively decapitated the state’s current leadership structure to ensure a “level playing field.”
Dushyant Nariala, a seasoned 1993-batch IAS officer, has been catapulted into the role of Chief Secretary. He replaces Nandini Chakravorty, whose short-lived tenure (begun on December 31, 2025) was abruptly cut short by the commission’s order.
In a parallel move, Jagdish Prasad Meena (2004-batch IAS) was stripped of his position as Principal Secretary (Home and Hill Affairs). He is replaced by Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch officer, who will now oversee the state’s internal security and election logistics.
The poll body has set a razor-thin deadline for the transition, a formal compliance report confirming that the new officers have assumed charge must be submitted by 3:00 PM on Monday, March 16.
The shake-up follows the EC’s announcement that West Bengal will head to the polls in a high-intensity, two-phase battle, with phase 1 scheduled on April 23 and phase 2 on April 29. The results in the state will be announced on May 4.
Bengal is one of four states and one Union Territory scheduled for elections this spring, but it remains the primary focal point of the EC’s scrutiny.
The decision immediately ignited a firestorm between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty dismissed the move as politically motivated, suggesting the EC was acting on behalf of the central government. “The EC is only following orders to satisfy its boss,” Chakraborty told the media. “You can transfer officers, but you cannot transfer Mamata Banerjee from the hearts of the people,” Chakraborty was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
However, the BJP welcomed the change, citing the ghost of the 2021 post-poll violence. State spokesperson Debjit Sarkar noted that 250 party workers had been killed in previous election cycles. “We urged the ECI to ensure that no officer with links to the ruling party should be part of the election machinery,” Sarkar stated, framing the transfers as a necessary step for a fair vote.