New Delhi: The Election Commission removed Mizoram's chief electoral officer SB Shashank on Thursday, just days before the state goes to polls and replaced him with IAS officer Ashish Kundra after widespread protests in the state.
Kundra, a 1996 batch officer, was posted as the Commissioner (General Administration Department), Higher and Technical Education in Mizoram. He was appointed after the poll panel asked the state government to forward names after it decided to find an alternative to Shashank.
Shashank had reportedly sought deployment of additional central armed police forces (CAPFs) in the north-eastern state and complained to the EC that the state's former principal secretary, Lalnunmawia Chuaungo, was interfering in the poll process. Chuaungo, a native of Mizoram and a Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, was relieved of his duties earlier this month.
Thousands of people took to the streets and picketed in front of Shashank's office for two days since Tuesday.
The protesters, under the aegis of the NGO Coordination Committee, had also given an ultimatum for Shashank to leave urgently, prompting the EC to send the first team to the state Tuesday.
Shashank left Mizoram Wednesday after being summoned by the chief election commissioner in Delhi, which resulted in the withdrawal of the agitation.
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