Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar told state election commissioner Saurav Das on Thursday that he could consider transferring officials to ensure fair and peaceful municipal polls, the advice prompting Trinamul to ask whether Raj Bhavan was trying to put bureaucracy under unnecessary pressure.

“Governor Dhankhar conveyed to State Election Commissioner Saurabh Kumar Das that he needs to bear in mind that the State Election Commission like the Election Commission of India is the de facto boss of the bureaucracy and may, in required situations, take recourse to transferring officials in the interest of ensuring fair and peaceful polls,” reads a release issued by Raj Bhavan on Thursday after a meeting between Dhankhar and Das at the governor’s official residence.

The governor also pointed out that the state poll panel “must take all steps to dispel fears and impressions that it is an extension of the Government and must engage in dialogue with all stake holders”.

Sources at Raj Bhavan said the governor had discussed with Das the violence that had marred the panchayat polls in 2018 and asked him to take all required steps to prevent such incidents during the forthcoming civic elections.

The chief of the state poll panel was not available for comments. But sources in the poll panel said the commission had assured the governor that all required steps would be taken to ensure free and fair municipal elections.

“The poll panel chief has made it clear that as soon as the election notification is issued, an online grievance management system will be put in place to take care of all complaints from political parties. It is decided that the system would be put in place by the second week of March,” said an official of the poll panel.

The sources also said the poll panel was aware that maximum number of complaints came up during the nomination filing process in the state. The commission would monitor the grievance management system round the clock and would forward those to the authorities concerned without any delay.

“From the experience of the last panchayat polls, we learnt that the Opposition parties lodge majority of the complaints during the nomination filing process alleging they were being prevented to file nominations. We want to ensure that such complaints don’t come up this time,” said a poll panel official.

Trinamul said the Raj Bhavan was trying to put government officials under pressure unnecessarily by asking the poll panel chief to consider the transfer of bureaucrats.

“It may be a game plan. If any officer doesn’t help the BJP to vitiate the poll process, the party might put pressure on the election commission to transfer him/her. The governor should not have given such an advice,” said a Trinamul leader.

Sources in the Mamata Banerjee government said it had primarily been decided that elections to Calcutta and Howrah municipal corporations would be held in the second week of April but dates of polls to the remaining 100 civic bodies in Bengal were yet to be finalised.