In a significant administrative overhaul just ahead of the Assembly Elections, the West Bengal government has transferred four high-ranking officials from the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) department. Following a notification issued on Monday, key officers including a Deputy CEO were reassigned to different departments. This reshuffle reportedly came after a proposal from CEO Manoj Agarwal himself.

Senior WBCS officers such as Narendranath Dutta and Supriyo Das have been moved to other ministries, while Rahul Nath has been appointed as the new Joint CEO. The timing is crucial as the official notification for the first phase of polling—covering 152 constituencies on April 23—was also released on Monday. However, the mass removal of 267 administrative officials in a single day has been challenged in the Calcutta High Court. Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee moved Chief Justice Sujoy Paul’s bench seeking an urgent hearing on the matter.

Previously, the Election Commission had already replaced 184 police officers and 83 BDOs, affecting sensitive zones like Bhawanipur and Nandigram. With the nomination deadline set for April 6, this rapid series of transfers has triggered intense speculation across the state’s political landscape.