In a dramatic turn of events, West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay retired on Monday afternoon only to be appointed as the Chief Advisor to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. However, according to sources in the Central government, a chargesheet may be issued and action will be taken against Bandyopadhyay for defying orders to join duty in Delhi.
Harekrishna Dwivedi has been appointed the new Chief Secretary of West Bengal. As per reports, though Alapan Bandyopadhyay has retired, he is getting a “big post” by way of being made the Chief Adviser to the Chief Minister. B.P. Gopalika has come to the post of Home Secretary. As per the new order, Bandyopadhyay will take on the new role from 1 June for a period of three years.
Mamata Banerjee said, “State Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay has retired as his service ends today (31 May 2021). He didn’t ask for his extension, so, considering his vast experience in bureaucracy, we have asked for his service to help the government in handling the Covid-19 pandemic and post Cyclone Yaas relief operations.”
But in the morning, the Chief Minister wrote a letter to the Prime Minister making it clear that she won’t release Alapan Bandyopadhyay, and blamed the Modi government on various grounds. After that, another Minister Chandrima Bhattachariya held a press conference, and attacked the Centre.
Around 5 pm, a fresh letter was issued. This time, the Centre sent a show-cause to Alapan Bandyopadhyay for not joining duty at the scheduled time at the North Block in Delhi on Monday. Bandyopadhyay was given the letter by the Centre’s staff office. Once the show-cause is answered, the next step may be taken.
After this letter from the Centre, CM Banerjee, visibly angry, once again sat in a press conference and said: “No such incident has taken place in India in the last 64 years.” She also said that the Centre’s show-cause notice was like sprinkling salt on the wounds of Covid and cyclone victims in Bengal. The Chief Minister angrily questioned whether the Centre was taking such steps only to oppose Banerjee and to avenge the BJP’s loss in the Bengal elections. “It is a very shameful incident. The letter did not mention why the Chief Secretary was being asked to join duty in Delhi. This is retaliatory behaviour. I have never seen such a ruthless Prime Minister.”
However, Mamata Banerjee said that Alapan Bandyopadhyay himself had expressed his desire to retire. The Chief Minister further said, “I thank my former Chief Secretary Alapan Banerjee for the great work he has done in his career. We need Alpan very badly. He has retired, but I am not going to let him go to the secretariat.”
An IAS officer of the 1987 batch, Alapan Bandyopadhyay was the additional chief secretary of micro, small and medium enterprises and textiles department before he was appointed in the home and information department in 2019.
Following the state’s direct confrontation with the Centre over Alapan Bandyopadhyay, questions are being raised about the future of three IPS officers Bholanath Pandey, Praveen Tripathi and Rajiv Mishra. The three were summoned by the Central government after the attack on the convoy of BJP president J.P. Nadda. Even then, Nabanna did not agree to leave them. They are still in the state.
Incidentally, the Centre had transferred the three IPS officers to various posts in the Central government after the attack on the Nadda convoy at Diamond Harbor on December 10. Soon after the incident, Diamond Harbor Superintendent of Police Bholanath Pandey, DIG Presidency Range Praveen Tripathi and IG South Bengal Rajiv Mishra were transferred on Central deputation.