Gurugram: Over a month after retaining control in Haryana with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s surprise victory over a resurgent Congress, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini carried out a reshuffle in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) late Wednesday night, removing the entire administrative team brought in by his predecessor Manohar Lal Khattar.
The move is being viewed as an indication that he is stepping out of the shadow of the former chief minister. With the announcement of the reshuffle, Saini has begun the process of building his own team for the next five years.
Political observer Mahabir Jaglan told The Print that there has been an impression in administrative circles and among the public that Saini is being guided by the administrative set-up of the previous chief minister despite BJP’s victory in Haryana under his leadership, but that may now change.
“Like most of the other BJP CMs, he is also politically monitored by the party high command in Delhi, but in Haryana, he has to show that he is the tallest OBC leader, particularly in the presence of another assertive OBC leader Rao Inderjit Singh,” Jaglan said.
“He knows that if he has to be successful as the CM and as an OBC leader in the long term, he has to shake up the administration and take its command.”
Also Read: Cracking whip on officials with suspensions & salary cuts, Saini govt follows in Khattar’s footsteps
The new faces in Haryana CMO
Arun Gupta, senior Indian Administrative Service officer of 1992 batch, has been appointed as the principal secretary to the chief minister, replacing former CM’s pick, V. Umashankar, a 1993 batch officer who is now with the Centre on deputation. Umashankar is now secretary of road transport and highways with the central government.
Gupta was serving as an additional chief secretary in the town and country planning, urban estate, and the industries and commerce departments. With a previous stint as home secretary in the Chandigarh administration, he commands a rich administrative experience.
Saket Kumar, an IAS officer of 2005 batch, is the new additional principal secretary, replacing Amit Aggarwal, a close aide of former chief minister Khattar. Kumar holds an MD in paediatrics. Before his appointment in the CMO, he was the managing director of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and director general of medical education and research in the state. He was also the secretary to the Government of Haryana for the Department of Medical Education and Research.
Kumar has also served as the commissioner of Food & Drug Administration, Haryana. In February this year, he spoke at the sixth Elets National Energy Summit in Chandigarh, where he discussed the importance of balancing renewable and conventional energy sources.
Aggarwal, his predecessor, has been reassigned as the commissioner and secretary of the Development and Panchayats Department, and the managing director of Haryana Power Transmission Corporation. He was considered to be close to Khattar. He also served as director general of the information and public relations department for a long period.
Ashima Brar (2004 batch), an additional principal secretary to the chief minister since Khattar’s tenure, has also been removed from the CMO. She, too, was considered Khattar’s confidante. She and her husband Mandeep Singh Brar—a 2005 batch IAS officer posted as home secretary in Chandigarh—have both worked in Khattar’s Office at different points of time.
She has been reassigned as the director general of the SEWA (Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes and Antyodaya) Department.
Yashpal, a 2011 batch IAS officer, previously serving as the director of the urban local bodies department, has been appointed as the deputy principal secretary to the chief minister.
Retired IAS officer Rajesh Khullar continues to serve as the chief principal secretary. Although Khullar was considered close to Khattar, he remains an exception among the new appointments.
When CM Saini replaced Khattar in March this year, he continued with the same administrative team in the CMO. Later, BJP named him the chief ministerial face of the party ahead of the assembly elections in October, while Khattar was largely kept away from the campaign.
Saini managed to pull off a spectacular victory in the elections, betraying all pre-poll surveys and exit polls and went on to head the third BJP government in the state.
On 17 October, the state government appointed Khattar’s confidant Rajesh Khullar as the chief principal secretary in the CMO with a Cabinet rank. However, the order was kept on hold within hours. In the second order issued on 22 October, Khullar was appointed again, but without the rank of a Cabinet minister.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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