Bengal's top officer Alapan Bandyopadhyay retired as Chief Secretary on May 31 instead of reporting to the Centre, in a dramatic escalation of Mamata Banerjee's feud with PM Narendra Modi. Bandyopadhyay is now Chief Adviser to the Bengal government but that may not protect him from the Centre's displeasure. He will face a charge-sheet and action for defying orders, reported NDTV. A show-cause notice has been issued to Bandyopadhyay for his brief appearance at the Cyclone Yaas review meet chaired by PM Modi. He has been asked to respond to the notice within three days. HK Dwivedi has taken over as the new Bengal Chief Secretary. Mamata Banerjee had written to PM Modi that she would not accept Bandyopadhyay's transfer to Delhi at a time he was handling the state's Covid-19 crisis. Centre's recall order came on May 28, hours after the Chief Minister skipped a Cyclone Yaas review meeting with PM Modi. Centre responded to the letter by insisting that he has to report to Delhi. CM Mamata Banerjee accused PM Modi of treating bureaucrats like bonded labourers. The furious Chief Minister declared, "You want to scare the bureaucracy. We are not scared. I am not scared of you. Those who are afraid crumble. We fight and we win.”
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