West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay was recalled by the Central government hours after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee ‘skipped’ a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over damages caused by ‘Cyclone Yaas’.
Bandyopadhyay, a 1987-cadre IAS officer, has been deputed to the Ministry of Public Grievances and Pensions. He has been asked to report DOPT, North Block, New Delhi at 10 AM on May 31.
In a notification, issued on May 24 from Nabanna, the state secretariat, West Bengal Government had asked for a three-month extension of service of current chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay.
Bandyopadhyay, who is known to be close to CM Mamata Banerjee, is an Indian civil servant and the current chief secretary for the West Bengal Government.
He took over from IAS officer Rajiva Sinha in the year 2020, starting his tenure under Mamata Banerjee’s second term.
Accordingly, Bandyopadhyay’s tenure was extended as the chief secretary by the government of India on the May 24.
The proposal was sent to the office of the principal secretary to the Prime Minister.
A major political controversy ensued after Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee reportedly skipped the Cyclone Yaas review meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
Sources said PM Modi and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar waited for half an hour for Mamata Banerjee, who later arrived, handed over documents related to the impact of the cyclone and left for other meetings on Friday afternoon.
Following this, several BJP leaders, including party president JP Nadda, Leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, Amit Shah came down heavily on Mamata Banerjee for giving the cyclone review meeting a miss.
