Bengal: ECI replaces 11 DMs, 5 IPS officers & commissioner of KMC
Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday ordered the removal of 11 District Magistrates-cum-District Electoral Officers (DEOs) and the Commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) in a fresh administrative reshuffle ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. Five IPS officers have also been removed.
The move follows a series of earlier interventions by the Commission, including the replacement of the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General of Police and the Kolkata Police Commissioner, aimed at ensuring neutrality in the poll-bound state.
In a notification issued on March 18, the Commission directed the immediate transfer and posting of senior IAS officers as District Magistrates-cum-DEOs across several key districts.
In Cooch Behar, Raju Mishra has been replaced by Jitin Yadav, while in Jalpaiguri, Ravi Prakash Meena has been replaced by Sandeep Ghosh. Tanvir Afzal has been replaced by Vivek Kumar in North Dinajpur.
In Malda and Murshidabad, Preeti Goyal and Nitin Singhania have been replaced by Rajanvir Singh Kapur and R. Arjun, respectively. In Nadia, Nikhil Nirmal has been replaced by Srikant Palli, while in East Burdwan, Ayesha Rani has been replaced by Sweta Agarwal.
Further changes were made in North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas, where Shilpa Gourisaria and Abhishek Kumar Tiwary have replaced Shashank Sethi and Arvind Kumar Mina, respectively.
In Darjeeling, Sunil Agarwal has been replaced by Harishanker Panicker, while in Alipurduar, R. Vimla has been succeeded by T. Balasubramanian.
In Kolkata, KMC Commissioner Anshul Gupta has been replaced by Smita Pandey, who will also serve as DEO for Kolkata North. Randhir Kumar has been appointed DEO for Kolkata South, replacing Sumit Gupta.
The Commission has instructed the newly appointed officers to take charge immediately and submit a compliance report by 3 pm on March 19. It also said that the transferred officials will not be assigned any election-related duties until the completion of the electoral process.
The poll panel also removed five Deputy Inspector Generals (DIGs) serving in different ranges. Nimbalkar Santosh Uttamrao, DIG of Raiganj Range, has been replaced by Rathod Amitkumar Bharat. Ajeet Singh Yadav has been posted as DIG of Murshidabad Range, replacing Sudheer Kumar Neelakantam.
Srihari Pandey has been posted as DIG of Bardhaman Range, replacing Alok Rajoria. Bhaskar Mukherjee, DIG of Presidency Range, has been removed and replaced by Kankar Prosad Barui. In Jalpaiguri Range, Bholanath Pandey has been replaced by Anjali Singh.
In a parallel development, the ECI sought a detailed report from the Kolkata Police on the alleged attack on senior TMC leader and state minister Shashi Panja’s residence here ahead of PM Modi’s rally last week, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The initial report submitted by the city police was found to be incomplete, lacking crucial details about the incident.
“The earlier report did not contain a full account of the sequence of events and key inputs. A comprehensive report has now been sought,” an EC official reportedly said.
The Commission has asked for clarity on the timeline of the incident, the role of the police, and the intelligence inputs available prior to the incident in North Kolkata’s Girish Park area, he said.
Questions were also being raised over the utilisation of Central Forces deployed in the state. “It is being examined why, despite the presence of Central Forces, they were not actively engaged, and why the local police handled the situation,” the official added.
So far, the police have arrested nine people for their involvement in connection with the clash between supporters of the BJP and the TMC, and the attack on Panja’s residence.
