Just days after the BJP formed its first government in West Bengal under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, senior IAS officer Manoj Agarwal has been appointed as the state’s new chief secretary. The move, announced after the new government’s first cabinet meeting at Nabanna, has quickly turned into a political flashpoint because Agarwal recently supervised the Assembly elections in the state as West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer.
Opposition parties, especially the Trinamool Congress and Congress, have questioned the appointment and linked it to the conduct of the recently concluded elections, while the BJP has defended the decision by calling Agarwal the senior-most eligible officer under service rules.
