Members of the All India Trinamool Congress staged a day-long walkout in the Rajya Sabha after the Election Commission of India removed several top bureaucrats in West Bengal, including Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, shortly after announcing the state’s assembly election schedule. Raising the issue before Zero Hour, TMC MP Derek O’Brien criticised the Election Commission’s “midnight” decision to reshuffle the state’s top administrative officers. He said the move was taken in the “dead of night” and announced that his party would walk out of the House for the day in protest. Responding to the criticism, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju defended the poll body, stating that the Election Commission is a constitutional authority and its decisions should not be questioned on the floor of Parliament.