ECI orders removal of Home Secretary of Gujarat and 5 other states

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) today ordered the removal of Home Secretaries from 6 states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Additionally, the DGP of West Bengal has been instructed to be removed. This decision was made after a meeting between Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu under the chairmanship of CEC Rajiv Kumar.

The ECI ordered the removal of IAS Pankaj Joshi as the Home Secretary of the Gujarat Government. Pankaj Joshi, a 1989 batch IAS officer, holds the post of Additional Home Secretary. He was recently appointed as the Additional Home Secretary. Pankaj Joshi was given charge of the Home Department after the then IAS Mukesh Puri retired on January 31, 2024. Joshi has also served as ACS of the Finance Department and the Energy and Petrochemical Department earlier.

It is learnt that the officers who have been removed in the 7 states held additional charges in the office of the Chief Minister, which could compromise the fairness required during the electoral process, particularly concerning the deployment of law and order security forces.

Earlier, on March 16, the dates of Lok Sabha Election 2024 were announced. Voting for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases. It will run from April 19 to June 1. The result will come on June 4. It will take 46 days from polling to the result. DeshGujarat