Lok Sabha Elections: Assam CM’s Brother Was Also Transferred, EC Reorganizes District Administrators in Five States

The Election Commission of India has moved eight non-cadre SPs and five non-cadre District Magistrates (DMs) across four states—Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha, and West Bengal—ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Furthermore, the panel has mandated the removal of SP Sonitpur in Assam and SSP Bathinda in Punjab due to family ties to elected officials in both states.

The poll authority claims that the move demonstrates the commission’s commitment to maintaining justice and the integrity of the election process—a point that Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has emphasized time and time again.

SSPs of Pathankot, Fazilka, Jalandhar Rural, and Malerkotla districts in Punjab; DMs of Dhenkanal and SPs of Deogarh and Cuttack Rural districts in Odisha; and DMs of Purba Medinipur, Jhargram, Purba Bardhaman, and Birbhum districts in West Bengal are among the officials who were transferred.

Furthermore, because his brother Jasbir Singh Gill (also known as Dimpa) is an MP, Harmanbir Singh Gill, the SSP Bathinda in Punjab, has been moved.

The brother of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, SP Sonitpur Sushanta Biswa Sarma, has also been removed from the position. For the same reason, Sushanta was moved before the 2021 Assembly elections.

The polling organization stated in a statement that these two executives were moved as preventative steps to allay any concerns about the administration’s apparent bias or compromised nature.

“The Election Commission of India (ECI) today issued transfer orders for non-cadre officers who are posted at leadership positions as District Magistrate (DM) and Superintendent of Police (SP) in four states, namely Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha, and West Bengal, carrying out its commitment for equal playing fields in the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service officials have been designated as the district’s DM and SP, respectively, according to the EC.

The EC had earlier this week ordered the dismissal of many state officials, including the home secretaries of six states and the director general of police for West Bengal.

The positions of home secretary in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand were eliminated. Additionally, the general administrative department secretaries of Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram were fired.

The electoral body instructed all state governments last month to make sure that officials who are assigned to another district within the same parliamentary constituency after serving three years in the district are not moved out of it.

The Lok Sabha elections of 2024 are scheduled to occur in seven stages, commencing on April 19 and concluding on June 1. The votes will be tallied on June 4.