India West Bengal's New CM Revamps Govt Bureaucracy, Police Force

2026-05-10 02:25:11

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The newly-elected chief minister of West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, opted for a major overhaul of the bureaucracy and the top police force in the state on Sunday, a day after he was sworn in as the state's first BJP CM.

Subrata Gupta, a retired Indian administrative service (IAS) officer, who was the special roll observer of the Election Commission during the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, has been made Adhikari's advisor, while Shantanu Bala, an additional district magistrate is now his private secretary.

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He also replaced two former chief secretaries besides shifting over 45 state government officers affiliated to the Mamata Banerjee government.

“The Mamata Banerjee government never cared for meritorious IAS and IPS officers of the state,” Adhikari told the media.“She isolated them, often forcing them to leave Bengal. This government will need these officers to implement the policy decisions the new cabinet makes.”

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According to Adhikari, efficient and impartial officers were not given any work in the previous administration and they had to leave the state for postings with the central government.“We want to give these efficient officers a chance to work for people,” he said.“We want to bring back these officers.”

Incidentally, there is speculation that Manoj Kumar Aggarwal, the state's chief election officer, will be made the chief secretary of the BJP government. The IAS officer is one of the most experienced bureaucrats in the state.

India's Election Commission (ECIs) had also undertaken a massive administrative upheaval in the state on March 15 after elections were announced in the state, shifting nearly 500 officials, ranging from top bureaucrats and police officers (including six police commissioners) to others across the ranks.

Mamata's Trinamool Congress (TMC) government challenged the moves in courts, including in the Supreme Court, which however, refused to interfere with the ECIs decisions.

Saturday saw the swearing in of Adhikari along with five other ministers belonging to different regions. The BJP thrashed the TMC, which had ruled over West Bengal for 15 years, and emerged victorious, winning 207 seats in the 294-member assembly. The TMC managed to get just 80 seats, as against 215 in 2021.

Mamata Banerjee, who refused to resign as chief minister even after the BJP's massive victory, appears to have accepted defeat. She has updated her bio on X, mentioning: "Founder Chairperson All India Trinamool Congress. Chief Minister of West Bengal (15th, 16th and 17th Vidhan Sabha)."

Earlier, after her party's defeat, she had alleged that the results were a conspiracy and did not reflect the people's mandate. About 100 seats were 'looted', she said. "The question of my resignation does not arise, as we were defeated not by a public mandate but by a conspiracy,” she had told the media.“I did not lose.”