Manoj Agarwal, who led the Bengal Assembly elections and SIR named Chief Secretary

According to an order issued by the Governor, Agarwal, who was previously the state CEO and ex officio Additional Chief Secretary of the Home and Hill Affairs (Election) Department, has been appointed Chief Secretary to the state government.

West Bengal’s Chief Election Officer (CEO), who oversaw the recent state assembly elections and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Manoj Agarwal, has been appointed as the Chief Secretary of the state.

According to an order issued by the Governor, Agarwal, who was previously the state CEO and ex officio Additional Chief Secretary of the Home and Hill Affairs (Election) Department, has been appointed Chief Secretary to the state government.

"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," a notification issued by Additional Chief Secretary, Personnel & Administrative Reforms, Rajesh Pandey, read.

Agarwal, as the CEO, West Bengal, is considered as the principal 'musketeer' of "The Three Musketeers” for making the recently concluded Assembly elections remarkable, from various viewpoints, such as the peaceful polling in contrast to the state's history of electoral violence and an unprecedented voting percentage, with the other two musketeers being poll observer, Subrata Gupta and special police observer, N.K. Mishra.

Gupta had already been appointed as the advisor to the new Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday, soon after he took oath as the state's ninth Chief Minister.
However, there was no information about the new posting of the current Chief Secretary, Dushyant Nariala. Insiders from the state Secretariat said that in all probability, Nariala will be released for a central deputation to New Delhi.

Agarwal, a 1990-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the West Bengal cadre, was the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) top choice for the post of Chief Election Officer. He was selected from a panel of three bureaucrats forwarded by the West Bengal government.

Colleagues in the CEO’s office describe him as a bureaucrat with a remarkably cool temperament, known for handling complex and high-pressure situations with professional ease and impeccable transparency.

It was this reputation that led the ECI’s senior leadership in New Delhi to accept almost every suggestion made by Agarwal on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and polling arrangements without hesitation, a colleague revealed. The official added that conducting the assembly elections in just two phases this year, compared to six or seven phases in previous elections, was Agarwal’s brainchild.

(with agecies input)