Ex-Bengal chief secretary removed by ECI before polls now given important task by Adhikari govt

Former West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty has been assigned a key role in Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s government to oversee border land transfers for BSF fencing and monitor Centrally-sponsored projects after her controversial removal by the Election Commission during the Assembly elections

Kolkata: Nandini Chakraborty, the former Chief Secretary of West Bengal, who was removed from her chair by the Election Commission of India (ECI) after announcement of the polling dates for the recently concluded state Assembly elections, has now been given a crucial assignment in the BJP-ruled state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.

An insider from the current state secretariat at Nabanna said that Chakraborty has been retained in her current position as “principal coordinator for development works”, a post directly under the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), but with specific and different assignments.

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The source said that as the “principal coordinator for development works”, Chakraborty’s first assignment is to ensure the smooth handover of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) to erect barbed wire fencing at the international border with Bangladesh in the state.

Incidentally, in the first meeting of the new state cabinet led by CM Adhikari on May 11, the first resolution was adopted to complete the process of handing over land for the said purpose to the BSF within the next 45 days.

“Chakraborty, with her administrative experiences in crucial state government departments, especially the state home department and finally the Chief Secretary, was chosen as the fittest person by the new state cabinet for the chair involving a crucial assignment. As the ‘principal coordinator for development works’, she will also monitor the process of implementing the Centrally-sponsored development projects in the state,” the source said.

An Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the West Bengal cadre and an erstwhile extremely close confidant of the previous Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, Chakraborty was the first woman Chief Secretary of the state. However, her tenure in that Chair was extremely short, for two months, as she was removed by the ECI within hours after the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, announced the polling dates on March 15.

A graduate in political science from Kolkata’s iconic Lady Brabourne College and a post-graduate from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Chakraborty has served in important positions in the state government like state home secretary, state information & cultural affairs secretary and secretary to the erstwhile West Bengal Governor, CV Ananda Bose.

Her elevation to the chair of state secretary in January this year was shrouded in controversy as it was done, superseding the seniority of several other IAS officers.