In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the Mamata government in West Bengal on Monday (27th October), transferred 64 IAS officers and 457 WBCS officers, including 14 district magistrates, several special secretaries, OSDs, BDOs, SDOs, and ADMs. The decision came hours before the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories (UTs). The SIR in the state would commence on 4th November.
The TMC government had described the transfers as “routine”, explaining that most of the DMs had been holding the posts for over 3 years. New District Magistrates have been appointed in 17 districts, including 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Cooch Behar, Murshidabad, Malda, Purulia, Darjeeling, Birbhum, Jhargram and Medinipur. Some DMs have been transferred to other districts, and in some cases, DMs have been moved to other departments.
It is not possible to make transfers without the ECI’s nod once SIR dates are announced
One plausible reason for the reshuffle could be that the officers will play nodal roles in the upcoming SIR exercise, and after the states for the SIR are announced, the state government cannot make any transfers without the ECI’s authorisation. “Administrative reshuffle before an SIR is every State government’s right. For any reshuffling in administrative positions after the announcement of SIR, they have to seek the permission of the ECI,” said the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar during his press meeting on Monday. The district administration officials, particularly DMs, play an important part in the SIR exercise. The DMs hear the first appeal against the decision of the Electoral Registration Officer in a given Assembly Constituency, as mentioned in the detailed announcement by the ECI.
BJP to keep a close watch on the newly-appointed officials
Following the mass transfers by the West Bengal government, the BJP wrote to the ECI officials describing the state government’s decision as “continued violation of ECI guidelines by the Government of West Bengal” in light of the recent reshuffling. “The West Bengal Government has carried out a mass scale of 235 officers… after the announcement of SIR by the ECI on 24 June 2025… The Bharatiya Janata Party strongly protests this irregular step in complete violation of the ECI guidelines of ordering these transfers without the approval of the ECI,” the letter reportedly stated.
Union Minister and BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar said that the BJP would keep a close watch on the newly-appointed DMs and ADMs. “We have seen the order. We will see what the purpose of these transfers is, and on whose ‘gurumantra’ it was done… If these new DMs and ADMs are seen defying rules and working on Trinamool’s instructions, we will democratically resist it with full force,” said Majumdar on Monday.
The party alleged that the transfers were an attempt by the Mamata government to hinder the SIR exercise, which would delete numerous fake voters in the state. “Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is sensing trouble for her party once this exercise is successfully completed and a large number of fake voters are deleted from the electoral rolls. She is, hence, trying everything in her hand to disturb the process by making such last-minute bulk transfers,” said BJP leader Sajal Ghosh.
ECI found four state officials involved in voter fraud in the state
Notably, in August this year, the state government had to suspend four officials for fraud during voter ID registrations after the ECI directed the government to take action against them. The officials allowed fake voter applications to be registered by misusing their authority. Their actions were exposed during a sample checking of voter application forms (Form 6) for routine updates to the electoral roll by the West Bengal Election Commission.
Mamata Banerjee has been vehemently opposing the revision of electoral rolls under the SIR, which is a routine electoral exercise. Mamata’s opposition to the SIR in a state, which is said to have the highest number of illegal immigrants who have obtained forged documents, raises questions about her intent.
The SIR exercise will be conducted by the ECI in Andaman and Nicobar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The exercise will start on 4th November and continue till 4th December. The draft voter rolls will be released on 9th December, and the final rolls will be published on 7th February.
