In what could escalate the ongoing tussle between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Centre, state’s Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay retired on Monday and has been appointed as Chief Adviser to Banerjee for three years.
The development comes hours after Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to withdraw the Centre’s order recalling Bandyopadhyay, and said her government “cannot release, and is not releasing” the top bureaucrat.
Addressing a press briefing, Banerjee said, “Since Alapan Bandyopadhyay has retired today on May 31 from his service, he is not going to join in Delhi. I will not allow Alapan Bandyopadhyay to leave Nabanna. He will continue as Chief Adviser to CM for the next three years.”
She also announced that HK Dwivedi has been appointed as the new Bengal Chief Secretary and BP Gopalika as the new Home Secretary.
Meanwhile, a show-cause notice is being served to Bandyopadhyay for failing to report to the Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT), as per government sources.
‘Modi, Shah behaving like autocrats Hitler, Stalin’
“The Centre did not reply to my letter but wrote to the chief secretary asking him to join North Block tomorrow. The reason for calling him to join the Centre was not mentioned in the letter,” Banerjee said.
Hitting out at the Centre for asking Bandyopadhyay to report to Delhi, the Chief Minister said PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are behaving like autocrats such as “Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin”.
“The Centre cannot force an officer to join it without the consent of the state government. I appeal to all state governments, opposition leaders, IAS-IPS officers, NGOs to fight the battle together,” she said.
Banerjee’s letter to PM
In a five-page letter, Banerjee earlier today requested the Prime Minister to reconsider the Centre’s decision recalling the chief secretary after giving him a three-month extension.
Banerjee termed the order as “unilateral” and pointed out that it had been done “without any prior consultation” with the state government.
The Centre, in an unprecedented move, had on May 28 sought the services of the chief secretary and asked the state government to relieve the officer immediately. The decision to recall Bandyopadhyay came after he and Banerjee skipped the meeting called by PM Modi to review the damage caused by Cyclone Yaas.
