‘Neutral umpire rewarded’: TMC attacks BJP govt after Manoj Agarwal made West Bengal’s top bureaucrat

KOLKATA: Bengal chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal, who oversaw the Special Intensive Revision and the recent assembly polls in the state, was appointed chief secretary on Monday. He will replace EC-appointed chief secretary Dushyant Nariala, who has been posted as principal resident commissioner in New Delhi. The announcement was made by the Suvendu Adhikari cabinet after its first meeting.

Agarwal's appointment came 48 hours after that of special election observer Subrata Gupta as adviser to the CM.

Agarwal was chosen as Bengal CEO by the Election Commission from a panel sent by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool govt.

Earlier on Monday, speculations were triggered after Agarwal sat beside CM Adhikari, with Nariala on his left, at the BJP govt's cabinet meeting at Nabanna.

Trinamool, which was at loggerheads with Agarwal during the poll, including a public spat on X between him and former finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, reacted sharply. MP Sagarika Ghose posted on X: "The so-called ‘neutral umpire' is rewarded with the post of top bureaucrat of the BJP dispensation in Bengal. Does anyone still seriously believe the 2026 Bengal elections were free and fair? Outrageous and brazen."

BJP defended the move, saying it had appointed the senior-most IAS officer and, unlike Mamata Banerjee, had followed service rules.

A 1990-batch IAS officer of the Bengal cadre, Manoj Agarwal is due to retire on July 31. Sources indicated he might get at least a six-month extension, subject to the state's recommendation and approval by Centre.

Bengal has precedence for such extensions — Samar Ghosh, Hari Krishna Dwivedi, BP Gopalika and Manoj Pant all continued as chief secretary even after they turned 60. Ghosh, appointed under the Left Front govt, became former chief minister Mamata Banerjee's first chief secretary in 2011.

A mechanical engineering graduate, Agarwal has held several key administrative posts. He began his career as ADM of Burdwan and later served as principal secretary in personnel and administrative reforms, food and supplies, and fire and emergency services.

In June 2024, he became additional chief secretary of the forest department before being appointed as CEO ten months later.

Under Agarwal, the assembly elections in Bengal were conducted largely peacefully. Sources said CEC Gyanesh Kumar commended him for smoothly conducting the assembly polls.

Agarwal's appointment, incidentally, comes ahead of the May 21 Falta bypoll.