The face-off between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the West Bengal government has intensified, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenging the manner in which the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is being conducted in the Supreme Court. Amid the continuing standoff, the state government had urged the ECI to revise the list of 15 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and 10 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers appointed as central observers for Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry. The Commission, however, rejected the request and directed the officers to attend the mandatory two-day briefing beginning January 5.
In an email to West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal, the Commission stated that the exemption request had been declined and instructed that the concerned officers must attend the scheduled briefing for their respective batches.
Earlier, the state government had sent a list of nine IAS and eight IPS officers of its choice to serve as central observers while seeking exemption for certain officers, including the Home Secretary, already appointed for poll duty. The ECI had designated 15 IAS and 10 IPS officers as observers and warned that failure to attend the February 5–6 briefing in Delhi would be taken seriously and could invite disciplinary action.
According to reports, the ECI had repeatedly asked the West Bengal government and written at least five letters since November last year seeking names of officers for central observer duty before taking a final call.
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