Overview
- The Election Commission named 15 IAS and 10 IPS officers from West Bengal as potential central observers for upcoming polls in several states and Puducherry, including Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena.
- The state government formally asked the EC to exempt or replace nine IAS officers, including the home secretary, and proposed alternative names for those slots.
- Mandatory briefing sessions were scheduled for February 5 for IPS officers and February 6 for IAS officers, with the EC warning that unauthorised absence could trigger disciplinary action.
- Commission officials said multiple reminders to the state for a list of eligible officers went unanswered, leading the EC to publish the panel on its own.
- In a separate directive tied to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the EC objected to transfers of three IAS roll observers and ordered their cancellation, as the state later defended the moves as workload-related.