Kolkata, April 9 (IANS): The West Bengal government has officially requested for an extension of the service of current Chief Secretary from the Union government, as BP Gopalika is officially scheduled to retire before the completion of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, said sources in the state secretariat.

While Chief Secretary Gopalika is scheduled to retire on May 31, the last and seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal is scheduled for June 1 and the counting of votes will take place on June 5.

This means that the Chief Secretary will be retiring before the election process and counting are completed.

So in view of the emerging situation, his extension has been sought by the West Bengal government.

To recall, the state government had also sought the extension of Gopalika’s predecessor HK Dwivedi, which was approved by the Union government and HK Dwivedi was given an extension of six months.

However, sources in the state secretariat said this time the matter is a bit complicated considering that the Model Code of Conduct is in force and the extension will not be possible without the concurrence of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Second, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, has already requested the ECI to immediately replace BP Gopalika as the Chief Secretary, citing the same grounds of his retirement before the election process is completed.

Adhikari argued that Gopalika's replacement should be done by applying the same logic under which the 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer Vivek Sahay was replaced as the state Director General of Police within 24 hours of his selection to the post.