ECI rejects ex-Kolkata CP’s plea for relief from deputation to TN as observer

Kolkata, April 6 The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected the plea from former Kolkata Police Commissioner and the current Additional Director General (ADG) of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal, Supratim Sarkar, for relief from going as a central observer to poll-bound Tamil Nadu.

The Commission has also directed Sarkar to report as the police observer for five Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, namely Tirunelveli, Ambasamudram, Palayamkottai, Nanguneri, and Radhapuram, all in Tirunelveli district, a Commission insider said.

Earlier, on April 4, the Commission had announced its decision to send Sarkar on deputation as a police observer in Tamil Nadu. However, Sarkar immediately made a plea to the Commission for relief from the deputation to Tamil Nadu on medical grounds.

Now, finally, with the Commission rejecting the plea, Sarkar has no other option but to report to Tamil Nadu by Monday.

Just a few days before the announcement of polling dates for West Bengal, Sarkar was appointed the Kolkata Police Commissioner by the Mamata government, replacing his predecessor, Manoj Kumar Verma.

However, the Commission removed him from that chair after the Model Code of Conduct came into force and also barred him from any election-related duty in West Bengal. Ajay Nana replaced Sarkar as per the ECI's directive.

Even after that, there were persistent demands from the opposition parties, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party, to send Sarkar out of the state during the polling period.

The BJP contended that unless removed from the state during the period of polling in West Bengal, police officers like Sarkar will continue attempting to influence the polling process on behalf of the ruling Trinamool Congress sitting at their respective chairs in the state’s police administration.

The two-phase Assembly polls in West Bengal will be on April 23 and April 29. In the first phase, voting will be held in 152 Assembly constituencies, and in the second phase, the remaining 142 seats will go to the polls. The results will be declared on May 4.

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