NEW DELHI: Due to the efforts in upholding the purity of democratic processes, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has been directed to enforce the removal and transfer of several key administrative figures in several states. The proactive move aims at creating an environment that is conducive to ensure unbiased elections in the upcoming period leading to the Lok Sabha elections.
Under the leadership of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, the ECI has sent orders for the removal of six Home Secretaries across Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. It was also directed to the top cop of West Bengal, the Director General of Police, to be transferred, which signaled a complete overhaul of the state's law enforcement setup.
Apart from that, the move extends beyond the state boundary in the administrative reshuffle involving the transfer of the Secretary of the General Administrative Department in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh, in addition to some officers from this group engaged in election-related tasks who have served three years or are stationed in their native districts. This measure of providing level playing fields to all stakeholders can also be exemplified by the removal of Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and several other additional and deputy commissioners in Maharashtra.
The Election Commission's preemptive measure of this kind, directed towards the staffing, further stipulates the transfer of officers in election-related tasks to any other state except their home state.
However, despite many substantive efforts to enforce compliance by the Election Commission, Maharashtra remains in its refractory mode, especially concerning the removal of municipal commissioners and other officials.
At the same time, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar revealed the schedule for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, with seven phases being scheduled to run from April 19 to June 1. Along with it, assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh, along with the Odisha assembly elections held in four phases, will be conducted.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, who was flanked by newly appointed Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, announced that the counting of votes for all these elections would take place on June 4. Besides, it is slated that bypolls are to be held for 26 assembly constituencies, further underscoring the huge electoral landscape that the Election Commission is going to oversee.
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