Election Commission removes Maharashtra DGP following Congress complaint.
Ahead of Maharashtra polls, the Election Commission on Monday removed the state’s Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla.
In an order, the poll body directed the Chief Secretary to hand over the charge to the senior-most IPS officer in the state cadre. A panel of three names was also sought for appointment as the new DGP.
The action comes days after the Congress had approached the EC with a complaint against Rashmi Shukla, alleging a “clear bias” and seeking her removal.
In a previous letter, the Maharashtra Congress chief had accused Shukla of illegal phone tapping of opposition leaders when she was Pune Police chief.
It also claimed Shukla instructed police officers to file false cases, and that law and order has deteriorated with a rise in political violence against opposition parties.
While the Jharkhand DGP was removed after EC enforced the Model Code of Conduct, Maharashtra’s exemption was highlighted.
Earlier, the MVA coalition during a debriefing with the EC had reiterated the request to remove Shukla citing dereliction of duty.
With the upcoming polls, the EC has now acceded to the Congress’ complaint and ordered replacing Shukla as state police chief.
