New Delhi, March 19 -- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday raised questions over what she called the "arbitrary removal of more than 50 senior officials" in the poll-bound state by the Election Commission of India. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief termed it a "political interference of the highest order".

Mamata Banerjee claimed that such action amounted to "systematic politicisation of institutions" and a "direct assault on the Constitution".

The Election Commission has ordered several reshuffles of senior officers, including the transfer of Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, and the removal of DGP Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar, soon after the ...