‘Bigger theft, bigger reward’: Rahul Gandhi’s ‘chor bazaar’ slams BJP, EC, blames former Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal’s appointment as chief secretary

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission launched a blistering attack on Tuesday after the newly formed West Bengal government under Suvendu Adhikari appointed former chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal as the state’s chief secretary.Rahul Gandhi slams BJP, Election Commission onThe decision by the Suvendu Adhikari-led government comes just days after the BJP came to power in West Bengal for the first time, ending Mamata Banerjee15 years of rule over the state.Didi-led Trinamool CongressThe opposition parties now also strongly criticized Agarwal’s appointment to the top bureaucratic post. The party called the move “shameless” and questioned the neutrality of the electoral process.TMC leaders pointed out that Agarwal had overseen the recently concluded assembly elections in West Bengal as the top official of the state’s Election Commission before being appointed as chief secretary by the BJP government.Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale wrote on“BJP and EEC now openly want to steal the election.“Are the courts blind or complicit? This is outrageous.”The announcement was made after the first cabinet meeting of the Suvendu Adhikari-led government in West Bengal. Agarwal’s appointment comes 48 hours after special election observer Subrata Gupta was appointed as adviser to the chief minister.Interestingly, Manoj Agarwal was initially selected as the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal by the Election Commission from a panel fielded by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress government.Speculations about his new role intensified after Agarwal was seen sitting next to Chief Minister Adhikari and Naryala to his left during the BJP government’s cabinet meeting in Nabanna on Monday.The Trinamool Congress party, which had clashed with Agarwal on several occasions during the assembly elections, including a public spat between him and former finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya over X, reacted strongly to the development.TMC MP Sagarika Ghosh Published onThe BJP defended the move, saying it appointed the highest-ranking IAS officer and that unlike Mamata Banerjee, it followed service rules.Manoj Agarwal, a 1990-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, will retire on July 31. However, sources said he could get an extension of at least six months based on the state government’s recommendations and the Centre’s approval.There is a precedent for such extensions in West Bengal. Former chief secretaries Samar Ghosh, Hari Krishna Dwivedi, BP Gopalika and Manoj Pant continued to serve beyond the age of 60. Ghosh was appointed during the Left Front days and later became Mamata Banerjee’s first chief secretary in 2011.Agarwal graduated in mechanical engineering and held several important executive positions during his career. He initially served as deputy commissioner of Burdwan and later as principal secretary of departments such as Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Food and Supplies, Fire and Emergency Services.In June 2024, he was also appointed as the principal secretary of the forest department and was appointed as the chief electoral officer ten months later.Assembly elections in West Bengal were largely peaceful during Agarwal’s tenure as chief executive. Sources said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar praised him for the smooth supervision of the polls.His appointment also comes ahead of voting in the Falta by-election on 21 May.