Kolkata: Two days after the BJP formed the Government in West Bengal, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari appointed the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)
Manoj Agarwal as his chief secretary. This comes a day after he appointed Subrata Gupta, EC’s observer for Special Intensive Research (SIR) of electoral rolls, as his advisor.
Who is Manoj Agarwal?
A 1990-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, Gupta, led the SIR exercise in the state just before the polls. Around 91 lakh voters were deleted from the electoral rolls, which led to the political tug of war. Gupta will replace Dushyant Nariala, who has been shifted to Delhi as Principal Resident Commissioner
Nariala was earlier appointed as chief secretary of the state by the Election Commission. He replaced Nandini Chakravorty.An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, 59-year-old Agarwal, served in several positions in West Bengal. Among the departments he served are- Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Food, Fire and Emergency Services, and Forest. He also held several important positions at the Centre, news agency PTI reported.
Apart from these, Agarwal also served as chairman of the State Highways Authority. He was part of the planning for the elevated corridor over Kona Expressway, a major infrastructure road, featuring a six-lane path. Currently, the 7.8 km project is under construction.
During his tenure as Principal Secretary of the state Food and Supplies Department, Agarwal made it mandatory to distribute food coupons through the state’s Public Distribution System during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Set to retire in July
Even as he is set to retire in July this year, officials suggested Agarwal may receive an extension, the agency added further. Notably, the BJP came to power on May 4 after winning 207 seats out of the 294-member assembly. The TMC, on the other hand, got 80 seats.
