The Mamata Banerjee dispensation on Friday transferred Darjeeling district magistrate Manish Mishra to the home department as a special secretary after the Union government sought the central deputation of the IAS officer, along with Siliguri police commissioner, following the controversy over the recent visit of President Droupadi Murmu to north Bengal

Sources said that the Centre had sent a letter to Nabanna on Thursday expressing its intent to deploy the DM of Darjeeling and the CP of Siliguri, C. Sudhakar, on central deputation.

As soon as the letter reached the secretariat, the top brass of Nabanna held a meeting with the chief minister and it was decided that the DM would be transferred and would not be sent to the central deputation.

“This could lead to another conflict between the state and the Centre. But in this case, Nabanna can argue that the state government’s approval is required in case of central deputation of IAS and IPS officers of the state cadre,” said a bureaucrat.

A senior officer said that a conflict had broken out after the Centre had issued orders transferring three IPS officers to Delhi without the state’s approval before the 2021 Assembly elections, after the convoy of the then BJP’s national president, J. P. Nadda, had been attacked in South
24-Parganas.

“But the state did not release the officers. There was controversy at that time on whether the Centre can post all IAS officers on central deputation without the consent of the state concerned. As the Centre had cancelled the orders soon after the 2021 elections, the tussle between Delhi and Calcutta came to an end,” said a bureaucrat.

But senior state government officials said that even though the state’s approval was required for an officer’s posting in Delhi by the Centre, the service rules of the all-India officers made it clear that if the Centre and the state differed over the transfer, the Centre’s decision
prevailed.

“So far, the Centre has not invoked the provision for the sake of the federal structure, but you can never say that the BJP-led Centre would not use the provision this time, particularly when the issue of the President is involved,” said the bureaucrat.

The President had alleged that no minister had received her when she had reached Siliguri last week to attend an International Santhal Council conference.

The President alleged a protocol breach and said the state government had denied her the venue that had been originally sought, and tried to keep attendance low.

Sources have said Sunila Agarwal, a WBCS officer, is the new Darjeeling DM. The government also transferred Nitin Singhania, the Murshidabad DM, and sent Surendra Meena to his place
on Friday.

“I am not sure how necessary the transfer of the Murshidabad DM was. It appears that the change was to make the transfer of the Darjeeling DM look like a routine affair. The state does not want to make officers feel that it was bogged down under the pressure of the Centre ahead of the polls,” said the bureaucrat.

Sources said the CP of Siliguri could also be
transferred.

“If both the officers were transferred today, people would have definitely linked the transfers to the letter from the Centre. By transferring the DM of Darjeeling, Nabanna has already sent a message to Delhi,” said an official.