Gupta, an officer of the 1990 batch, was engaged by the Election Commission as the Special Roll Observer for the SIR exercise.
Retired IAS officer Subrata Gupta has been appointed as West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari’s advisor. (PTI)
Retired IAS officer Subrata Gupta, who led the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal before the elections, has been appointed as the newly-appointed Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
“The Governor is pleased to appoint Dr Subrata Gupta, IAS (retd) as Advisor to the Chief Minister, Government of West Bengal, with immediate effect and until further order,” said Bengal Chief Secretary Rajesh Pandey in an official notification.
Subrata Gupta, an officer of the 1990 batch, was engaged by the Election Commission as the Special Roll Observer for the SIR exercise, held prior to the recently-concluded assembly elections. Since the Commission was satisfied with his role during the SIR exercise, he was later entrusted with the responsibility of a special observer for the Assembly elections as well.
READ MORE: From Red Bengal To Right Bengal: Why Suvendu Adhikari’s Rise Is More Than A Regime Change
“Gupta’s vast experience is expected to help the new administration in policy coordination and governance-related matters,” an official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
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.
Suvendu Adhikari Takes Charge Of Bengal
Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday took oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
BJP MLAs Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Nisith Pramanik and Khudiram Tudu were also sworn in as state ministers. The oath-taking ceremony coincided with the birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
In the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, the BJP secured 207 seats, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won 80 seats, bringing an end to the party’s 15-year rule in the state. The SIR was one of the most controversial aspects of the election, with the TMC alleging large-scale disenfranchisement of voters.
In West Bengal, the SIR exercise was unusually large in scale, wherein over 27 lakh voters were marked ineligible after verification, and over 60 lakh names were put under scrutiny during the process, government data revealed.
Read More
