West Bengal Chief Secretary retires amid tussle between Centre & Bengal govt
Bandyopadhyay was told to report to Centre tomorrow but he chose to retire as Chief Secretary. He will now serve as the Chief Adviser to Mamata govt for 3 years.
New Delhi: The simmering tension between Centre and Bengal government flared up further on Monday, as Mamata administration refused to relieve Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay for Central duty.
Bandyopadhyay was told to report to Centre tomorrow but he chose to retire as Chief Secretary. He will now serve as the Chief Adviser to Bengal govt for 3 years.
Banerjee also announced elevation of state home secretary H K Dwivedi as new state chief secretary.
“Today, Alapan Bandyopadhyay has retired as the chief secretary. He has been made the chief adviser to the Chief Minister. He will start working in his new post from tomorrow for a tenure of three years. H.K. Dwivedi has been made the new state chief secretary,” Banerjee said during a news conference.
This follows war of words between Centre and Bengal govt over Cyclone review meet, which was hurriedly attended by CM Mamata and Chief Secretary with the latter leaving the meeting in a huff. PM Modi was made to wait for more than 30 minutes for the Cyclone Yaas review meet.
Bandyopadhyay was caught in the tug of war between the Centre and the state ever since he was asked to serve the Union government in Delhi.
The West Bengal chief minister accused Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of behaving like German dictator Adolf Hitler and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, PTI reported.