West Bengal Poll Heat Rises: EC Rejigs 14 IAS as District Election Chiefs
Indian Bureaucracy News, Kolkata, March 18, 2026
ECI Transfers 14 IAS in West Bengal as District Election Officers
In a significant administrative rejig ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, the state government today effected the bureaucracy transfers and, in some cases, redesignation of 14 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers across in a series of four separate orders issued. A consolidated review of these orders indicates that fourteen (14) of the officers have been appointed as District Magistrates-cum-District Election Officers (DM-cum-DEO), placing them at the core of the electoral process management.
Contrary to some media reports suggesting that seventeen IAS officers were transferred, an accurate reading of the official notifications confirms that fourteen officers have been reassigned, while three additional orders were issued primarily for clarification. Notably, Shri Randhir Kumar, IAS, will continue to serve as Director of Land Records & Survey, West Bengal, rectifying an earlier inadvertent mention of his transfer as DEO, Kolkata South.
Among other significant adjustments, Shri Balasubramanian T, IAS, who was initially posted as DM and DEO, Alipurduar, has been retained in his current district in Dakshin Dinajpur. In his place, Mayuri Vasu of 2013 batch, who is presently with the Observer’s Cell at the state’s Office of the Chief Electoral Officer will be going as DM and DEO to Alipurduar.
With the state set to go to the polls in two phases on the 23rd and 29th of April, with the first phase covering 152 Assembly constituencies, and the second phase covering 142 constituencies, this administrative reshuffle is expected to bring a measure of stability to the state bureaucracy following a period of high-decibel transfers. These appointments come as West Bengal finds itself at the centre of the political universe, with the ruling BJP at the Centre and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state locked in a high-stakes battle of wit and nerves. The Election Commission of India (ECI), in its constitutional mandate to ensure a free and fair election, has been proactively reassigning officials . This has inevitably drawn the TMC government into a taut checkmate with the central authorities and the ECI, with the state’s bureaucracy emerging as the crucial result-giving mechanism at the heart of all electoral actions. The coming weeks will reveal how this recalibrated administrative machinery navigates the complex political landscape to deliver the electoral verdict.
Details of the present and new postings for the officers, is listed below
14 IAS appointed District Election Officer as per Election Commission of India order
- Smt Smita Pandey IAS (West Bengal 2005), presently Additional Director General, National School of Administration and Training Institute (NSATI), West Bengal, is transferred and posted as Municipal Commissioner – Kolkata Municipal Corporation-cum-District Election Officer (KMC-cum-DEO), Kolkata North.
- Shri Randhir Kumar IAS (West Bengal 2006), presently Secretary, State Gazetteers, is transferred and posted as Director of Land Records & Survey, West Bengal – cum DEO – Kolkata South.
- Shilpa Gourisaria IAS (West Bengal 2009), presently Secretary, Finance Department, with additional charge of Director (Finance), WBHDCL, is transferred and posted as DM-cum-DEO – North 24 Parganas.
- Shri R Arjun IAS (West Bengal 2010), presently Secretary, Commission for Protection of Child Rights, is transferred and posted as DM-cum-DEO – Murshidabad.
- Shri Abhishek Kumar Tiwary IAS (West Bengal 2012), presently Managing Director, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Limited, is transferred and posted as DM-cum-DEO – South 24 Parganas.
- Shri Rajanvir Singh Kapur IAS (West Bengal 2012), presently Senior Special Secretary, Sundarban Affairs Department, is transferred and posted as DM-cum-DEO – Malda.
- Shri Harishanker Panicker IAS (West Bengal 2013), presently Joint Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, is transferred and posted as DM-cum-DEO – Darjeeling.
- Shri Balasubramanian T IAS (West Bengal 2013), presently District Magistrate, Dakshin Dinajpur and previously transferred and posted as DM-cum-DEO – Alipurduar, will continue as DM-cum-DEO – Dakshin Dinajpur.
- Ms Mayuri Vasu IAS (West Bengal 2013), presently Observer’s Cell, Office of the Chief
Electoral Officer, West Bengal, is transferred and appointed as DM-cum-DEO – Alipurduar. - Shri Srikanth Palli IAS (West Bengal 2015), presently OSD, BRAIPRD, is transferred and posted as DM-cum-DEO – Nadia.
- Ms Sweta Agarwal IAS (West Bengal 2016), presently Director, Social Welfare, is transferred and posted as District Magistrate-cum-DEO – Purba Bardhaman.
- Shri Vivek Kumar IAS (West Bengal 2016), presently Special Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, is transferred and posted as DM-cum-DEO – Uttar Dinajpur.
- Shri Sandeep Kumar Ghosh IAS (West Bengal 2016), presently Special Secretary, Food & Supplies Department, is transferred and posted as District Magistrate-cum-District Election Officer – Jalpaiguri.
- Shri Jitin Yadav IAS (West Bengal 2016), presently Special Secretary, Science and Technology and Bio-Technology Department, is transferred and posted as District Magistrate-cum-District Election Officer – Coochbehar.
Indian Bureaucracy News wishes all the officers the very best.