Bengal LoP sends objection to EC over state’s IPS list for posting as ‘police observers’ in other states

Kolkata: West Bengal’s Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday raised objections with the Election Commission over the list of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers proposed by the state for posting in other states as “Police Observers” during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

According to him, the state government has deliberately chosen the names of those IPS officers who have unbiased images, the reflections of which could be felt both during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.

“It has come to my knowledge, through reliable sources, that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has prepared a list of IPS officers and submitted it to the Election Commission for getting them posted in other states as Police Observers during the time of Lok Sabha Elections,” he said.

The Leader of the Opposition noted that in 2019 and 2021, these officers were assigned responsibilities by the EC to carry out election duties after replacing certain officers against whom complaints were filed.

“So, they have acquired much needed experience in the last two important elections. So my request to EC to kindly reject this list presented by Mamata Banerjee because as and when the situation demands, they won’t be present in the state in the first place, if the EC feel necessary to assign them any responsibility,” he said.

He has also furnished a list of IPS officers starting from the rank of Director General to that of Superintendent of Police, whose names have been proposed by the state government to the EC for assignments as “police observers” in other states.

–IANS