EC Announces New Home Secretaries and DGP for West Bengal Ahead of Elections
Shakeup as Commission Seeks Impartiality in Key Positions
New Delhi, March 19: In a significant move ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday approved new Home Secretaries for six states and a new Director General of Police (DGP) for West Bengal.
The newly appointed Home Secretaries are Pratyaya Amrit (Bihar), AK Rakesh (Gujarat), Deepak Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Omkar (Himachal Pradesh), Vandana Dadel (Jharkhand), and Dilip Jawalkar (Uttarakhand).
The EC also announced the appointment of Sanjay Mukherjee as the new DGP of West Bengal. This comes after the commission rejected the state government's nomination of Vivek Sahay, who was earlier suspended by the EC in 2021 for security lapses.
This decision follows the EC's directive on Monday to remove the Home Secretaries of the aforementioned six states and the DGP of West Bengal. The commission reportedly expressed concerns about potential bias, as some officers were previously associated with the Chief Minister's Office.
The EC's actions appear to be aimed at ensuring a level playing field by placing officials with a neutral standing in crucial positions during the upcoming elections.
