Under ECI pressure, Bengal govt sends names for filling up vacant posts in CEO office

Kolkata, July 26 (IANS) Under pressure from the Election Commission of India (ECI), the West Bengal government has finally forwarded names of some bureaucrats to the poll panel for the latter's consideration to fill up key vacant posts in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal.

Earlier this week, ECI sent a communique to the state Chief Secretary, Manoj Pant, directing the latter to ensure immediate functional independence and administrative strengthening of the office of the CEO, West Bengal.

In the same communique, the ECI directed the Chief Secretary to fill up the four vacant posts of additional, joint, and deputy CEOs in West Bengal in consultation with the poll panel, given the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections next year.

"Names of three bureaucrats for each of these four vacant posts have been forwarded to the ECI. The poll panel will now select from among the names recommended by the state government," sources in the state secretariat said.

However, he added, there is also a possibility that the ECI might ask the state government to recommend new names for any vacant post or all the vacant posts, in case the names already sent by the state government were found unsuitable by the ECI authorities.

Meanwhile, sources in the CEO's office said that a proposal has been made to shift the current office from the Balmer Lawrie Building in Central Kolkata due to space and parking constraints.

"In all probability, the new office will be shifted to any building that houses other central government offices," the sources said.

Meanwhile, the state government had already taken exception to the communique from ECI to the Chief Secretary, directing the latter to ensure immediate functional independence and administrative strengthening of the office of the CEO, West Bengal.

The state government has already started consulting legal brains to check whether ECI's direction to the state government could be challenged in a court of law.

The state government and ruling dispensation are in favour of challenging the same in an appropriate court since they feel the poll panel's direction was a "political" move rather than an "administrative" one.

--IANS

sch/svn