The Bengal government has appointed Khalil Ahmad and Surendra Gupta as the administrators of the civic bodies in Calcutta and Siliguri, respectively, in the wake of a directive from the Election Commission to place officials at the helm of five municipal corporations in the state.

Ahmad, who is picked to run the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, is the urban development secretary. Gupta is the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration secretary and will take charge as the administrator of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation

The EC had on Saturday asked the chief secretary to appoint government officials as the administrators replacing political persons at five municipal corporations — Calcutta, Bidhannagar, Siliguri, Chandernagore and Asansol.

“We have appointed government officers as administrators at five municipal corporations where political leaders were the chairpersons of board of administrators. A compliance report had been sent to the EC by 10am today (Monday),” said a senior government official.

The outgoing mayors of the municipal corporations had been appointed to head the boards of administrators after the expiry of five-year tenure of the elected boards in the past one year or so. The BJP had lodged complaints with the EC saying the civic body offices were being used as extended offices of the ruling party.

The Trinamul Congress said the outgoing mayors were given the responsibilities to run the bodies as the government wanted a continuity in the backdrop of Covid-19 as elections could not be held because of the pandemic.

“We did not discriminate against any party and that was why the CPM’s Asok Bhattacharya was appointed as the chairman of the board of administrator in Siliguri,” said a Trinamul insider.

Sources said in case of Calcutta and Siliguri, two senior IAS officers had been posted considering that those two civic bodies needed special attention. At the three other municipal corporations of Bidhannagar, Chandernagore and Asansol, existing municipal commissioners have been appointed as the administrators.

“At these three civic bodies, the commissioners can run the daily activities. But in Calcutta and Siliguri, two senior officers were posted as these are large bodies and need special attention. The two senior officers would be able to run the daily activities with the support of the commissioners,” said a source.

The decision to appoint Ahmad as the administrator of the CMC was taken as the ruling establishment didn’t take any risk with the services of the CMC. If the services of the CMC get disrupted, it could affect the poll prospects of the ruling party, sources said.

“Khalil had been the commissioner of the CMC for eight years. He knows every function of the civic body. His experience will help run the daily activities smoothly in the city,” said a source.

As there was no clear instruction to remove political persons from the post of chairman of the board of administrators at 100-odd municipalities, the state did not appoint government officers as administrators at those civic bodies.

“The DMs have been asked to send daily reports on the decisions taken by these civic bodies to the chief secretary for review. The EC has asked the chief secretary to ensure level playing field by reviewing decisions of these civic bodies,” said an official.

The sources said since the model code of conduct was in place, the civic bodies couldn’t take any new decision or launch projects.

“But still, daily reports have been sought to ensure that nothing wrong is done at these civic bodies,” said an official.

Ban on bike rallies

The EC has imposed a ban on motorcycle rallies 72 hours prior to the day of voting, citing such programmes are being organised to intimidate voters.

The sources also said the EC had made it clear police officers involved in the activities of police welfare boards should be kept out of poll-related duties.

“The BJP was repeatedly complaining that a section of police officers was trying to manipulate postal ballots of policemen through the police welfare board. It appears the EC has taken the complaint seriously,” said a source.