The Election Commission issued orders on Monday to remove the bureaucrats and officials across India in preparation for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Among those affected are Rajiv Kumar, the Director General of Police in West Bengal, and Iqbal Chahal, the Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Additionally, according to sources cited by news agency ANI, the Election Commission of India (ECI) purportedly issued orders for the removal of the Home Secretaries from six states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Furthermore, the Secretaries of the General Administrative Department in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh have also been removed. The EC further removed the Secretaries of GAD in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh, who were fulfilling responsibilities within their respective Chief Ministers’ Offices.
The Election Commission instructed state governments to transfer officials serving for three years or in their home districts related to election duties. Maharashtra allegedly defied this for certain municipal commissioners and additional/deputy municipal commissioners. Expressing discontent, the commission directed the transfer of BMC officials by 6 pm Monday. It also instructed the chief secretary to transfer similar officials from other corporations in Maharashtra.
The actions taken by the EC are viewed as consistent with the commission’s efforts to ensure fairness and maintain the trustworthiness of the voting process. Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to begin on April 19 and will be conducted across seven phases.Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar announced that a staggering 96.8 crore individuals will have the opportunity to vote in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.