Weeks ahead of the largest democratic exercise in the world, the Election Commission of India instructed the removal of Home Secretaries across six Indian states – Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand – and the DGP of West Bengal, in an attempt to foster a level playing field and ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
In addition to these changes, the ECI relieved the duties of secretaries in the General Administrative Department in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner, Mr. Iqbal Singh Chahal, a 1989-batch IAS officer).
