Retired Indian Administrative Service officer Subrata Gupta has been appointed as advisor to newly elected West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari who took oath at a high-profile ceremony in Kolkata on Saturday.
The state government announced the decision through an official order on Saturday, ANI reported.
Who is Subrata Gupta?
Gupta is a 1990 batch IAS officer and was earlier appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) as a special observer for the Special Intensive Review (SIR) exercise conducted ahead of the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections.
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The BJP defeated the TMC in the elections by winning 207 seats, pushing Mamata’s party to 80 seats, ending its 15-year presence in Bengal.
As Bengal witnesses a change in power, the newly formed BJP government in West Bengal has also appointed IAS officer Shantanu Bhalla as private secretary to the Prime Minister.
“The Governor is pleased to appoint Shri Shantanu Bala, IAS (WB:2017), ADM, South 24 Parganas, as Private Secretary to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of West Bengal until further order(s). This is issued in the interest of public service,” the notification said, as reported by PTI.
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Shantanu Bala, a 2017 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, was serving as Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of South 24 Parganas before his new assignment.
As per the orders issued, both officers have been directed to assume their new responsibilities with immediate effect.
Suvendu takes oath as new Chief Minister of Bengal
BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as the first BJP chief minister of Bengal on Saturday at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, chief ministers of NDA-ruled states and the party high command. BJP’s Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshodiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik took oath at the ceremony.
West Bengal recorded the highest ever voter turnout since independence with a staggering 91.66% polling in the second phase of the Assembly elections. In the first stage, the participation rate in the survey reached 93.19%, bringing the combined survey percentage to 92.47%.
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The results of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections ushered in a radical political shift, ending Mamata Banerjee’s long dominance and bringing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power with 206 seats. This is a major blow to the All India Trinamool Congress, which got just 80 seats – a sharp decline.
