Just hours before the Election Commission of India’s press conference in Delhi to announce when the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the West Bengal government carried out a major reshuffle, transferring 64 IAS officers, including 17 district magistrates and 457 WBCS officers, to new positions.

Among the WBCS officers, several block development officers, sub-divisional officers and additional district magistrates were also shifted to other posts.

The state administration described the reshuffle as routine, but senior officials said the timing was intentional. “It was expected that after the SIR announcement, the ECI would move those district magistrates who have held the post for more than three years. So, before the ECI could do that, the state administration transferred them to avoid controversy,” said a senior administrative official, requesting anonymity.

During the conference, the Election Commission is likely to announce the dates for the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision in several states, including West Bengal, which is set to vote in 2026.

Among those moved were Sharad Kumar Dwivedi, DM North 24 Parganas, who has now been posted as secretary in the Health and Family Welfare Department, Sumit Gupta, DM South 24 Parganas, who has been appointed as the Municipal Commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, and Shashank Sethi, MD of WBHIDCO, who will take over as DM North 24 Parganas. Arvind Kumar Mina, DM Cooch Behar, was transferred to South 24 Parganas, while Rajarshi Mitra, DM Murshidabad, has been made MD WBHIDCO.

Rajat Nanda, DM Purulia, has been appointed Director of Tourism, Preeti Goyal, DM Darjeeling, will now serve as DM Malda, and Nitin Singhania will take charge as DM Murshidabad. Bidhan Roy, DM Birbhum, has been moved to the Food and Supplies Department as social secretary.

Senior BJP leader and former state party president Rahul Sinha said, “This is not a routine transfer. These DMs held their positions for years. Now, since SIR will start, the state government is forced to change so many of them. This is to save themselves from embarrassment.”

Sujan Chakraborty, CPIM central committee member, said, “In our state, no rules are followed… There is a definite purpose behind the transfer. Who knows what the plan of the government is?”

However, Debangshu Bhattacharya, state president of TMC social media and IT cell, countered, “The Opposition has no issue, that is why they are creating an issue. Such transfers take place throughout the year. This is normal.”

On August 22 this year, following a directive from the Election Commission, the state government had suspended four officials, including two Electoral Registration Officers, Debottam Dutta Choudhury and Biplab Sarkar, and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, Tathagata Mandal and Sudipta Das, over alleged fraudulent voter list entries in Baruipur Purba and Moyna Assembly constituencies. A data entry operator had also been suspended earlier.