Neelam Meena appointed new Bengal chief poll officer

Neelam Meena, a 1998 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the new chief electoral officer of West Bengal, replacing Manoj Kumar Agarwal.

Senior IAS officer Neelam Meena was on Monday appointed as the new chief electoral officer of West Bengal after Manoj Kumar Agarwal was elevated as the state's chief secretary recently.

In a letter to the state chief secretary, the poll authority said Meena, a 1998 batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, is being appointed as the CEO.

It said Meena will not hold any additional charge of the state government while holding the post of chief electoral officer.

Soon after the BJP government took charge of the state, Agarwal was elevated as the chief secretary.

He was responsible for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls ahead of assembly polls and oversaw the highly charged state elections.

The West Bengal government had forwarded a panel of three senior IAS officers to the Election Commission for the selection of the state's next CEO.

The nominees were Neelam Meena, Tanmay Chakrabarty and Moumita Godara Basu, officials had said.