The Election Commission has appointed former Bihar chief electoral officer Ajay Nayak as a special observer and Vivek Dube and M.K. Das as two special police observers for the Bengal Assembly polls.

The appointment of the three retired officers announced by chief election commissioner Sunil Arora in New Delhi on Friday gives a clear hint that the poll panel is laying special emphasis on ensuring free and fair polls in the state.

Nayak is not new to Bengal as he was brought in as a special observer for the state soon after the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Dube, a 1981-batch retired IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, had also been appointed as a special officer in the 2019 general election.

“Ajay Nayak was one of the best CEOs in the country. He worked as a special observer in Bengal in the past… Vivek Dube also worked as a special police observer in Bengal in 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” Arora told a news conference in Delhi on Friday.

Sources in the state administration said appointing retired bureaucrats as special observers in a state where they had conducted polls in the past bore hints that the EC had taken the views of Opposition parties in Bengal seriously.

“It is important for a special observer to get to know the ground realities of a particular state to hold polls properly. Both Nayak and Dube know the ground reality in Bengal as they had conducted the last Lok Sabha polls here. It is a rare incident when the EC deputed two special observers in the same state again. The EC is clearly interested in using their experience this time,” said a source.

Another official said deputing M.K. Das (a 1977-batch retired IPS officer) as the second special observer was also significant as he had worked as a special police observer in Tripura in the past.

“Characters and problems of both Bengal and Tripura are almost similar as the two states are highly politicised,” said a bureaucrat.

Former director general of income tax (investigation) in Chennai B. Murli Kumar—whose seizure of unaccounted cash found on the premises of a DMK functionary led to the rescinding of the parliamentary election in Vellore in 2019 — has been appointed as special expenditure observer for Bengal.

Immediately after the EC news conference, chief minister Mamata Banerjee held a news conference at her home and questioned the appointment of the three officers, especially Dube, as observers. “This officer, Vivek Dube, was here before, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls... We all know what drama he did,” said Mamata

Congress state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also objected to the posting of Dube as a special police observer for Bengal. “I had complained to the EC regarding his prior postings (as observer during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls) in the state because observers like him do not listen to us and cause us disappointment and worry.”

“We do not understand why he has been posted here again. We understand he might be the EC’s choice, but he has not heeded our complaints or demands in the past. So, we will keep raising our grievances with the EC if he repeats such actions.... He rejected our every request and so we had several complaints.”

Sources said that appointments of the two special police observers meant that the EC felt that the law and order of the state was not satisfactory.

“Generally, police observers take note of law and order in the state during the elections and submit reports to the EC on a regular basis. The primary inputs are received from police observers posted in the districts. Based on the reports of special police observers, deployment of central forces is planned,” said an official.

As the issue of deployment of central forces remained a controversial issue in Bengal, the EC apparently does not want to take a chance and that is why the second special police observer was deployed, sources said. A senior bureaucrat said the EC felt that Nayak and Dube had worked well in 2019 Lok Sabha polls despite the fact that Trinamul had raised several questions on the alleged excesses of central forces.

“Significantly, the BJP had no major complaints over the 2019 Lok Sabha poll process,” said the bureaucrat.

The way the poll schedule was announced, sources said, also gave a hint that the EC was laying utmost importance on deployment of central forces at booths.

“A number of districts — even small districts like Bankura — would go to the polls in two phases, which is a departure from earlier practice. This will make the movement of central forces smooth,” said a source.

A bureaucrat said movement of central forces from one district to another was a critical exercise.

“Now, the forces would move from one part of a district to another. And even, the forces can move to the neighbouring district for the next phase. This is a much easier exercise from bringing central forces from one district to a faraway district,” the bureaucrat explained.