Dibyendu Das takes over as Bengal’s acting Chief Electoral Officer

Kolkata: Dibyendu Das has taken over as Bengal’s acting Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) with the tenure of incumbent Aariz Aftab ending on December 31. Das has been acting as Additional CEO in the state CEO office and is the senior most of the additional CEOs presently functioning.

According to sources, Das will be acting as the CEO till the appointment of a full-time CEO. The state will soon send a list of three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers of the state cadre as the next occupant for the chair to the Election Commission of India (ECI). As per the rules, the ECI will select one name from the panel of IAS officers forwarded to it by the state government.

The ECI may also ask state Chief state Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to immediately act on the matter if they feel that the state is delaying in forwarding of names.

The names that are doing rounds for the post of state CEO are — Onkar Singh Meena who is presently the Principal Secretary of Agriculture department, Roshi Sen who is the Additional Chief Secretary of state Fisheries department and Narayan Swaroop Nigam who is presently serving as the Principal Secretary of state Health and Family Welfare department.

Aftab, a 1991 batch IAS officer of the Bengal cadre, had been one of the longest-serving CEOs in Bengal, having taken over in February 2017. Under his supervision, the state witnessed three major elections, namely the Lok Sabha election in 2019 and 2024 and the state Assembly elections in 2024.

“We expect that the new CEO will ensure all possible measures for free and fair elections in the state and should not buckle under any political pressure,” said a senior Trinamool Congress leader.