New Delhi (26.12.2021): The 1985-batch IAS officer and Union Secretary for Youth Affairs Ms. Usha Sharma could be the obvious choice as the next chief secretary of the state for Rajasthan's Gehlot administration as the immediate contender, Subodh Agrawal, despite being seen as the administration's 'resourceful' officer currently holding the post of ACS Mines, is far junior to her belonging as he does to the 1988 batch.
Of course, CM Ashok Gehlot had set aside the time-tested principle of seniority while appointing the current 1989-batch officer Niranjan Kumar Arya earlier who is scheduled to retire in the next 45 days with little chances of getting an extension. But he can't afford to do the same - that is violating the cardinal principle of seniority again - unless he desires to unsettle the administration for no obvious gains.
While appointing Arya as the CS last time, Gehlot wanted to appease the ambitious 'Dalit lobby' as he engineered defection in the state BSP and brought nine of its MLAs to the Congress fold even though their defection is still to be ratified by the state assembly.
If Arya was politically important then, Ms. Usha Sharma is equally important now. She is said to be a close relative of the state assembly speaker, CP Joshi, who is still keeping the issue of nine BSP MLAs joining the Congress on hold and who can influence a lot of things in the tussle between Gehlot and rebellious young leader Sachin Pilot who is seen biding his time.
Apart from seniority and the right political connection, Ms. Usha Sharma is also considered a clean and efficient officer. Indeed, she could have been the right choice when Gehlot set aside the principle of seniority and appointed Arya as the CS. By ignoring Ms. Sharma then, it could be argued that he chose to run into a headlong confrontation with Speaker Joshi who then retaliated by spoiling the CM's gameplan to induct nine BSP MLAs into the Congress fold.
In case the CM chooses to continue his cold war against Speaker Joshi by choosing not to appoint Ms. Sharma as the next CS, he may find it difficult to pick up officers not too far junior. While all 1986 batch officers have retired, two officers from the 1987 batch - Neelkamal Darbari who is currently a special secretary in the Union government, and Veenu Gupta, wife of former CS DB Gupta - are not really available.
These leaves open the chance for the 1988-batch officer Subodh Agarwal. But there are minor technical problems, which of course are of not much significance. It is said Agarwal was never empaneled as JS at the center though it is not a required qualification for the post of CS as was proven in the case of Arya. However, age is on his side in addition to the skills all politicians love among their officers. His service tenure may last till December 2025.
If the CM goes for officers way far junior to Ms. Sharma, then he may also consider Agarwal's batchmate Pawan Kumar Goyal. From the 1989 batch, he has the option to choose from a list made up of Rohit Kumar Singh, Ms. Shubhra Singh, and V Sriniwas.
Officials believe that the CM's final choice of next CS could indicate whether the administration is heading towards consolidation or instability, considering that all is not well in Rajasthan Congress.
(By Rakesh Ranjan)
