With only few hours to go for the appointment of new Chief Secretary (CS) of the state, the two main aspirants C.K. Khaitan and R.P. Mandal are putting all their might to gain the coveted post.
A final call on the appointment is yet to be made by Thursday evening by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. Both the aspirants were tight lipped over the issue and denied that they had received any hint regarding their new appointment.
On the other hand sources confirmed that the two Indian Administrative Officers (IAS) of the same 1987 batch were seen lobbying for themselves to clinch the top post in the state government.
Meanwhile, sources say that the leading front runner among the two is Khaitan as he has a bigger exposure at the national capital and is thus seen to be a favourite of the Chief Minister.
Notably, the present Chief Secretary Sunil Kujur is going to retire on Thursday evening and before that the name of his successor had to be announced. If it was the case of following the hierarchical pattern then the name might have been out, but for choosing an official overlooking the seniority has compelled the state government to keep silence till the last moment.
