West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal has been appointed as the Chief Secretary of the Suvendu Adhikari-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, an official order said on Monday.
This comes a week after the assembly election results were declared and two days after Adhikari was sworn in as the state’s first BJP chief minister.
The order also stated that Acting Chief Secretary Dushyant Nariala has been appointed as Chief Resident Commissioner, New Delhi. Nariala, a 1993-batch IAS officer, was earlier appointed chief secretary by the election authorities, replacing Nandini Chakravorty as the state’s top bureaucrat.
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Manoj Agarwal, a 1990-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the chief secretary in the Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government in West Bengal. He previously served as the state’s chief election officer (CEO).
Manoj Agarwal as Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) oversaw the Special Intensive Review (SIR) exercise ordered by the Election Commission. This included the removal of approximately 91,000 names from electoral rolls prior to the parliamentary elections.
Manoj Agarwal is a graduate of IIT Kanpur. He held important positions in various government departments of West Bengal, including personnel and administrative reforms, food, fire and emergency services, and forests. He also chaired the State Highways Authority and served as Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Food and Supplies.
The appointment came shortly after the BJP formed the government in West Bengal. Agarwal is due to retire in July but is likely to get an extension, reflecting the BJP government’s confidence in his administrative skills under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
Manoj Agarwal, former Chief Electoral Officer, has been appointed as the Chief Secretary in the Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government in West Bengal.
Agarwal, a 1990-batch West Bengal cadre IAS officer, had earlier overseen the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise ordered by the Election Commission in the state ahead of the assembly elections, during which around 91 lakh names were removed from the electoral rolls.
Agarwal was moved to the West Bengal forest department before being brought back to the prominent role of the state’s director general.
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In this position, he oversaw the politically sensitive SIR exercise. The BJP described the initiative as a “fundamental purge of the electoral roll”, while the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) condemned it, saying it was an attempt to “disenfranchise legitimate voters at the behest of the BJP”.
Agarwal is set to retire in July this year; however, according to PTI, citing state secretariat sources, he is likely to be granted an extension, reportedly reflecting the BJP government’s confidence in his ability to drive and implement key administrative policies during Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s first term.
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Agarwal is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. He has had a long and varied administrative career, serving in several important departments of the Government of West Bengal, including Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Food, Fire and Emergency Services and Forests. He also held important responsibilities at the central level, officials said, according to PTI.
He previously chaired the State Highway Administration, where he was involved in the planning of the elevated corridor over the Kona Highway. The project is a significant modernization of the infrastructure aimed at reducing traffic congestion by creating a six-lane route without a signal. A 7.8 km long corridor is currently under construction to improve connectivity to Kolkata Port.
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The Kona Expressway serves as a key artery connecting Kolkata with National Highway 19, which leads towards Delhi, and National Highway 16, which connects to Mumbai.
During his tenure as Principal Secretary of West Bengal Food and Supplies Department, Manoj Agarwal directed that food coupons under the state’s public distribution system be distributed by government officials and not political officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This decision was reportedly not liked by the then TMC leadership.
The BJP formed the government in the state for the first time after a decisive victory over the TMC. The party won 207 seats in the 294-member legislature, while the TMC was reduced to 80 seats.
