ECI Names Neelam Meena New Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal
Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has officially appointed Neelam Meena as the new Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal. The appointment comes after former CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal was elevated to the post of Chief Secretary of the state.
A notification from the West Bengal government stated: “The Election Commission of India, in consultation with the Government of West Bengal, hereby appoints Smt. Neelam Meena, IAS. [WB:1998] “He will serve as the Chief Electoral Officer of the State of West Bengal from the date of assuming charge and until further orders succeeding Shri Manoj Kumar Agarwal, IAS.”
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission and former West Bengal Chief Executive Manoj Kumar Agarwal, alleging bias and collusion in the election process.
Referring to the functioning of the election mechanism, Banerjee claimed that the Election Commission did not act impartially and instead supported the BJP in the elections.
“We have repeatedly said that the Election Commission did not act fairly and instead preferred the BJP…There was complete understanding between the CEO and the BJP…they rigged the entire election in the counting halls. TMC candidates and representatives were lynched and thrown out…CISF and CRPF played the role of looters…there was extreme rigging,” he alleged.
His remarks came in response to the recent administrative development in which the BJP government appointed Manoj Kumar Agarwal as Chief Secretary.
Another notification from the state government said, “The Governor is pleased to appoint Manoj Kumar Agarwal, IAS (WB:1990), Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal and ex officio Additional Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs (Election) Department, Government of West Bengal, as Principal Secretary, Government of West Bengal.” The statement was included.
Taking his criticism beyond West Bengal, the TMC leader also touched on the appointment of former Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar as Chief Minister’s Secretary in Kerala, calling it “wrong”.
Earlier in May, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi harshly criticized the newly elected BJP government in West Bengal following the appointment of Manoj Kumar Agarwal as General Secretary.
In a post on X, the Congress MP once again alleged collusion between the Election Commission and the BJP.
Rahul Gandhi wrote: “The bigger the theft, the bigger the reward in BJP-EC’s ‘Chor Baazar’ (Thieves’ Market).”
Earlier this month, the BJP government appointed Manoj Kumar Agarwal as West Bengal General Secretary.
Ahead of the State Assembly elections, both TMC and Congress had alleged that the ECI was working at the behest of the BJP in West Bengal. The conflict between TMC and ECI over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls had also made headlines.
The 2026 Assembly election results marked a decisive mandate for the BJP, which recorded a significant gain by winning 206 seats in the 294-member Assembly; this was a big jump from the 77 seats it had achieved in the previous election.
