Kolkata: Bengal govt has requested EC to replace the nine Bengal cadre officers named central observers for the upcoming assembly elections in Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, including Bengal home secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, with nine others.This comes after EC undersecretary ML Meena sent a letter to Bengal chief electoral officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal with a list of 25 Bengal cadre officers — 15 from the IAS and 10 from the IPS — named central observers for a briefing meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Feb 5 and 6 in Delhi.“The state govt sent a letter to the EC with an alternative list of nine officers, requesting to replace the nine on the commission’s list, including state home secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena,” a senior official at the Bengal CEO’s office said on Thursday. The official, however, did not provide the names of the officers mentioned.Sources in the administration said the state govt does not want to release Jagdish Prasad Meena, Sanjay Bansal, P Mohan Gandhi, Avanindra Singh, PB Salim, Soumitra Mohan, Shubhanjan Das, Rachna Bhagat, and P Ulganathan. As alternatives, the govt has suggested the names of Rajiv Kumar, Abhinav Chandra, Niranjan Kumar, Bishwanath, Apala Seth, Tapas Kumar Bagchi, Sasim Kumar Barai, Sonam Bhutia, and R Arjun, sources added.Meanwhile, two IPS officers on the EC’s central observers list — Bharat Lal Meena and Rishikesh Meena — have appealed to the CEO, seeking relief from their duties on medical grounds. The CEO will send their applications to the EC for consideration, sources said.
