In a major reshuffle ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India has named Siddha Nath Gupta as Director General of Police, replacing Piyush Pandey.
The Election Commission has also nominated Ajay Kumar Nand as the Commissioner of Kolkata.
Along with the police, Natarajan Ramesh Babu will be posted as Director General of Correctional Services and Ajay Mukund Ranade will be posted as Additional Director General and Information and Government Officer (Law and Order).
TMC MP Kirti Azad criticized the Election Commission’s reshuffle decision, calling it a move to “please its masters”.
He said, “The Election Commission of India has taken this step to please its masters…They cannot drive out West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from the hearts of the people of the state.”
The announcement comes after the Election Commission on Sunday announced the election schedule for assembly elections in four states – West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam – as well as the Union Territory of Puducherry.
According to the schedule, voting in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. Voting in Kerala and Assam will be held in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will vote on April 23. Voting in Puducherry will also be held on April 9. The Election Commission has announced that the counting of votes from the four states and Puducherry will take place on May 4.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant has expressed confidence that Mamata Banerjee will win against the BJP.
He said, “Mamata Banerjee will come to power again in West Bengal. There are people at the Center who cannot be trusted. They are power hungry.”
There are 294 seats in the West Bengal Assembly, of which the main contest is likely to be between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has been in power in the state since 2011.