EC transfers 8 Kolkata returning officers ahead of April 26, 29 polls

Kolkata: The election commission on Tuesday replaced the returning officers (RO) of eight assembly seats in Kolkata that go to the polls on April 26 and 29.

An EC official said the change was necessary as the officers — the ROs of Chowinghee, Entally, Beliaghata, Jorasanko, Shyampukur, Kashipur-Belgachia, Kolkata Port and Bhowanipore — had been in the post for four years or more.

EC sources said the norm of removing officers who had held the same post for over four years had been followed in the districts, but not in the case of these officers posted in Kolkata.

Of these assembly segm-ents, Kolkata Port will vote on April 26, and the others on April 29 — phase seven and eight of the eight-phased Bengal polls. The nomination process for these phases is currently underway. During phase seven, a total of 36 assembly constituencies go to the polls, and 35 in the last phase.

An official said the ROs — who play a key role in the election process — have been shifted in order to maintain the sanctity of the polls, so that no question of bias could be raised later. The ROs are tasked with conducting the polls in a free and fair manner; they also hand over winners’ certificates to the candidates and manage everything on behalf of the EC. They need to ensure that the staff and on-duty police are properly posted through a process of randomization so that no one feels threatened and electoral malpractices and complaints are properly handled.

In end-March, the EC had removed the RO of Ballygunge, as Arindam Mani had been in the same post of additional director of directorate of land revenue for over three years. He has been posted as an officer on special duty of the PAR department.

A new set of eight WBCS (Executive) officers will take charge immediately. Dipanjan Bhattacharya, joint secretary of the panchayat department, will be the RO of Kolkata Port; Suparna Roy Choudhury, joint secretary of the food department, will be the RO of Bhowanipore. They will report to the district election officer (DEO) of Kolkata South. Suman Bhattacharya, joint secretary of the health department, will be the RO of Entally; Kakoli Mukherjee, a deputy secretary-ranking officer, will be RO of Beliaghata; deputy secretary Brijit Suchitra Kujur will be RO of Shyampukur; Md Naqui, GM of minority development and finance corporation, will be RO of Kashipur-Belgachia; Sourashmi Mitra will be RO of Jorasanko; and Maitree Ganguly will be RO of Chowringhee. They will report to the DEO of Kolkata North.