Patna: The state govt on Saturday transferred 47 IAS officers in a major reshuffle ahead of the assembly elections scheduled for Oct-Nov this year. The transfers include key administrative positions such as district magistrates (DMs), divisional commissioners and department heads.The reshuffle includes the replacement of DMs in 17 of the state’s 38 districts and divisional commissioners in six of the nine divisions. Several secretaries and heads of departments and corporations have also been reassigned.Gaya DM Thyagarajan S M, a 2011-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the new DM of Patna. He replaces Chandrashekhar Singh (2010-batch), who has been promoted to the rank of secretary and posted as the divisional commissioner of Patna division. Outgoing Patna commissioner Mayank Warwade has been posted as project director of the Bihar Education Project Council.New divisional commissioners have also been appointed in Saran (Rajiv Roushan), Darbhanga (Kaushal Kishor), Munger (Awanish Kumar Singh), Tirhut (Raj Kumar) and Bhagalpur (Himashu Kumar Rai).Alongside Patna and Gaya, new DMs have been posted in Nalanda, Munger, Darbhanga, West Champaran, Madhubani, Banka, Buxar, Khagaria, Jamui, Gopalganj, Kaimur, Siwan, Vaishali, Purnia and Saharsa.Nalanda DM Shashank Shubhankar (2014-batch) has been appointed as DM of Gaya while Varsha Singh (2016-batch) has been posted as DM of Vaishali.New secretaries have also been posted in five departments. Tirhut commissioner Sarawanan M has been appointed as secretary in the rural works department. Darbhanga commissioner Manish Kumar is now secretary in the animal and fish resources department.Saran commissioner Gopal Meena has been appointed secretary in the revenue and land reforms department. West Champaran DM Dinesh Kumar Rai has been promoted to secretary and posted in the same department, which will now have two officers at that level.Bhagalpur commissioner Dinesh Kumar has been appointed as secretary in the education department.