Former Rajya Sabha MP and TMC leader Saket Gokhale on Monday launched scathing attack on the Bhartiya Janata Party and the Election Commission of India over the appointment of Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal as the Chief Secretary of Bengal by newly formed Suvendu Adhikar government.
Reacting to the development, in a X post, Gokhale wrote, Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal who conducted the West Bengal election for the ECI has been appointed Chief Secretary of Bengal by the new BJP Govt."
"BJP & ECI are now being open about stealing the election," he further wrote.
Questioning to role of judiciary, he wrote, "Are the courts BLIND or COMPLICIT? This is beyond shameless."
Agarwal, senior IAS officer of the 1990 West Bengal cadre, oversaw the recently concluded 2026 Assembly elections and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. Then ruling party, TMC strongly opposed the SIR excercise in the state, under which close to 90 names were deleted from the electoral roll.
