West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal Appointed As Chief Secretary of State After BJP Government Takes Charge

Key Points

West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal, who oversaw the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state, has been appointed as the chief secretary of the state. On Monday, 11th May, 2026, Agarwal’s appointment was officially notified, two days after the newly minted Bengal government led by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari as chief minister took charge. 

Manoj Agarwal is an officer of the Indian Administrative Services from the 1990-batch of the West Bengal cadre, who served as the state's CEO and ex-officio Additional Chief Secretary of the Home and Hill Affairs (Election) Department. This new appointment propels him towards the top administrative position in the state. 

The appointment order was issued from Nabanna to Howrah by the Additional Chief Secretary, Administrative Reforms, Rajesh Pandey, and will ‘remain in effect till further notice.’ The notification read: "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, Govt. of West Bengal, as Chief Secretary of West Bengal until further orders. This is issued in the interest of public interest." 

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Agarwal’s appointment comes two days after Subrata Gupta, posted in the state as the poll observer, was appointed by Adhikari as the advisor to the chief minister. 

The chief secretary of a state is chosen and appointed by the chief minister of the state. While the formal appointment order is officially issued in the name of the Governor, it is an executive action driven entirely by the Chief Minister's choice.

TMC’s reaction

Agarwal’s appointment comes after the BJP’s landslide victory in West Bengal in the state’s assembly election, wherein the BJP gained a significant headway over the former chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) party. 

Reacting to the news, the TMC has launched a sharp attack on the newly formed BJP government,  claiming that the neutrality of the electoral process has been compromised owing to this decision and called the move ‘shameless.’ In a statement posted on X, TMC Member in the Rajya Sabha, Sagarika Ghose, wrote: “The so-called ‘neutral umpire’ is rewarded with the post of top bureaucrat of the @BJP4India dispensation in Bengal. Does anyone still SERIOUSLY believe #bengalelections2026 were free and fair? Outrageous and brazen.”

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In response, the BJP remarked that Agarwal’s appointment has been finalized keeping in mind the saffron party’s objective to restore the dignity of the laws of the land. The party’s West Bengal unit wrote on X: “Unlike Mamta Banerjee, who had subverted the bureaucracy by blatantly flouting the rules governing the IAS by superseding dozens of officers, the BJP Government of West Bengal has appointed the senior most IAS officer working in the state, Shri Manoj Agarwal, as the Chief Secretary of West Bengal in keeping with it’s promise to restore the dignity of the laws of the land.”

Agarwal was picked to be the state’s CEO by the EC from a panel of three bureaucrats as forwarded by the West Bengal government. He is due to retire on July 31st, 2026. However, his tenure could receive a six-month extension, as per sources, subject to recommendation from the state government and approval by the centre.

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