In a major development on Saturday (May 9), the day a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was sworn in under the leadership of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in West Bengal, retired IAS officer Subrata Gupta was appointed as the adviser to the new chief minister, as per a notification.
Gupta, who is an officer of the 1990 batch, was engaged by the Election Commission as the Special Roll Observer for the Special Intensive Revision exercise, held prior to the recent Assembly elections which the saffron party swept.
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“Gupta’s vast experience is expected to help the new administration in policy coordination and governance-related matters,” an official said.
It may be mentioned here that the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which was in power before the BJP’s victory, had alleged that Gupta and other officials had been pressuring central election observers in Bengal to compromise their independence and bending the poll machinery to suit the BJP’s interests.
CM Adhikari gets private secretary in IAS Bala
The new BJP government also appointed IAS officer Shantanu Bala as the chief minister’s private secretary, according to another notification.
Bala, an officer of the 2017 batch, was the additional district magistrate of South 24 Parganas in his last assignment.
“Bala’s appointment is part of the restructuring of the Chief Minister’s Office following the change in government,” another official said.
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Both officers have been asked to take charge of their new assignments immediately, according to the notifications.
It may be mentioned here that Adhikari lost his personal assistant Chandranath Rath, a former Indian Air Force official, in post-poll violence, days after the BJP won the elections, decimating the TMC led by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
(With agency inputs)
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