Mamata accepts EC order to transfer officials

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accepted the Election Commission of India's (ECI's) order to transfer five Superintendents of Police (SPs) and a district magistrate.

Banerjee's climbdown came after the poll panel rejected the state government's plea to revisit its decision on the transfer and gave a deadline of 10 a.m. Wednesday for it to comply with its orders.

Banerjee called a press conference in Durgapur at around 8.20 p.m. on Tuesday to announce her decision to agree to the transfers, but not the replacements decided by the poll panel.

Chief secretary Sanjoy Mitra had earlier written to the Commission seeking clarifications on some technical issues and requested the poll panel to reconsider the orders.

The panel answered the technical queries, but told the state government that there was no scope for revisiting the orders. If the state government fails to do so, the ECI had the option of deferring the polls in the constituencies from where it had ordered the officers to be shifted out.

The officials whose transfer was ordered by the EC included superintendents of police (SPs) in West Midnapore, Bardhman, Birbhum, Malda and North 24 Parganas districts and the district magistrate of North 24 Parganas.