Bengal CEO who oversaw SIR, Assembly elections appointed Chief Secretary in Suvendu Adhikari govt; TMC fumes
The Statesman | 12 May 2026
West Bengal government on Monday appointed state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal, who oversaw the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state and conducted the recently held Assembly elections, as the next Chief Secretary.
“The Governor is pleased to appoint Shri Manoj Kumar Agarwal, IAS (WB:1990), Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal and ex officio Additional Chief Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs (Election) Department… as Chief Secretary to the Government of West Bengal until further orders,” a notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms.
Agarwal was the Bengal Chief Electoral Officer during the recent Assembly elections in which the BJP secured a stunning victory against the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Reacting to the development, the Opposition TMC called the Bengal CEO’s appointment as the new Chief Secretary to the Suvendu Adhikari-led Bengal government “outrageous and brazen.”
“Bengal Chief Electoral Officer ( CEO) Manoj Agarwal will now be Bengal Chief Secretary. The so called “neutral umpire” is rewarded with the post of top bureaucrat of the BjP dispensation in Bengal. Does anyone still SERIOUSLY believe Bengal Elections 2026 were free and fair?,” asked TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghosh.
Earlier, Subrata Gupta, who served as the special poll observer during the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal, was appointed as the Advisor to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
The Election Commission of India had on Thursday relieved Gupta as the special poll observer after the successful completion of the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal.