As expected, the BJP government in West Bengal appointed Manoj Agarwal, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), as the next Chief Secretary. Agarwal is likely to get extension as he retires in July this year.
Agarwal had faced criticism from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This move follows the appointment of Subrata Gupta, a special observer for the Election Commission in West Bengal, as an advisor to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Both officers played key roles in the conducting elections in the state.
An order dated May 11, issued by the Governor, appointed 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 to the Government of West Bengal. Agarwal succeeds Dushyant Nariala, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch, who has been moved to New Delhi as the Principal Resident Commissioner.
Who is Manoj Agarwal?
A former IIT-ian, Agarwal was appointed the West Bengal CEO in March 2025 after rejecting the state's first shortlist of candidates and seeking a revised panel of three IAS officers who would be retiring shortly after May 2026.
The poll panel wanted a CEO who would retire after overseeing the 2026 Assembly polls and, therefore, could “not be put under any kind of pressure by Bengal's ruling dispensation (the TMC) during the elections”, a senior bureaucrat said.
Agarwal had faced CBI probe
The appointment of Agarwal as the CEO had raised controversy and TMC leaders raised a 2009 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Agarwal over disproportionate assets to question the CEO's credentials.
In 2013, the CBI filed a chargesheet alleging Agarwal and his wife, Rooma, had amassed Rs 1.46 crore in disproportionate assets in a violation of the Prevention of Corruption Act. However, in 2018, Agarwal was acquitted by a Delhi court, a decision that was challenged by the CBI in 2020 and remains pending in the Delhi High Court.
The journey of Agarwal
Agarwal became close to late Congress leader Priyaranjan Dasmunsi in 1999 when he was the District Magistrate of Uttar Dinajpur, Dasmunsi's home district. Later, he became the Personal Secretary of Dasmunsi in Delhi while the latter was the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister. He worked in the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) when the disproportionate assets case was filed.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
