Defying Centre's order, Alapan Bandyopadhyay retires; appointed as chief adviser to Bengal CM

Barely hours after she wrote to wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that the West Bengal government "cannot release, and is not releasing" Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that Bandyopadhyay retired on Monday and will function as chief adviser to chief minister henceforth.

According to media reports, the chief minister said, "Our Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay retired today; he will continue as chief adviser to CM for next three years."

Bandyopadhyay, a 1987-batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, was scheduled to retire on Monday after completion of 60 years of age. However, he was granted a three-month extension as Chief Secretary of West Bengal by the Centre in view of his work in managing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the Centre had, in a surprise move, on May 28 night sought Bandyopadhyay's services and asked him to report on Monday by 10 am to Delhi.

Banerjee said since Bandyopadhyay retired on Monday, on May 31, from his service, he is not going to join in Delhi. "I will not allow Alapan Bandyopadhyay to leave Nabanna. He is now the chief adviser to chief minister," she said.

She claimed that PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are behaving like autocrats such as Hitler or Stalin and appealed to all state governments, opposition leaders, IAS-IPS officers, NGOs to fight the battle against the Centre together.

Earlier, in a five-page letter, Banerjee had urged the prime minister to reconsider the Centre's decision recalling the chief secretary after giving him a three-month extension. "This so-called unilateral order is an unreasoned volte face and by your own admission, against the interests of the state and its people. I humbly request you to withdraw, recall, reconsider your decision and rescind the latest so-called order in larger public interest. I appeal to your conscience and good sense, on the behalf of the people of West Bengal," Banerjee had said in her letter.

Expressing her anguish in the entire episode of recalling Bandyopadhyay even after granting him a three-month extension, the Bengal CM questioned whether the decision has any connection with her and the chief secretary's meeting with the PM at Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur district on May 28.

"I really and sincerely hope that this latest order is not related to my meeting with you at Kalaikunda. If that be the reason, it would be sad, unfortunate and would amount to sacrificing public interest at the altar of misplaced priorities," Banerjee wrote.

The transfer order had come within hours after a political row erupted on Friday over Banerjee curtailing her meeting with PM Modi on the post-cyclone situation in her state to just 15 minutes.