Ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a major reshuffle of the state’s top police and administrative officials. Siddh Nath Gupta has been appointed as the Director General of Police (DGP), replacing Peeyush Pandey. The EC has also named Ajay Kumar Nand as Commissioner of Kolkata Police, along with Natarajan Ramesh Babu to take up the position of DG, Correctional Services, and Ajay Mukund Ranade to be posted as ADG & IGP (Law & Order). TMC MP Kirti Azad criticised the Election Commission’s decision on the reshuffle, calling it a move to ‘appease their masters’.

“The Election Commission of India has taken this step to appease their masters…They cannot remove West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee from the hearts of the public of the state,” he said.

This comes after the announcement of the election schedule for Assembly elections in four states–West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam–along with the Union Territory of Puducherry by the Election Commission on Sunday.

According to the schedule, polling in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29. Kerala and Assam will vote in a single phase on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23. Voting in Puducherry will also take place on April 9. The counting of votes for all four states and Puducherry will be held on May 4, the ECI announced.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant has exuded confidence that Mamata Banerjee will secure a victory against the BJP.

“Mamata Banerjee will come back to power in West Bengal. The people who can’t be trusted are at the centre. They are hungry for the power,” he said.

In West Bengal, the Legislative Assembly consists of 294 seats, with the primary contest expected to be between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, has been in power in the state since 2011.