Speculations are rife over the next Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh. The incumbent, Anup Chandra Pandey, who was given six months’ extension in February this year, will retire on August 31.
It is also being speculated who will replace Mrityunjay Narayan, secretary in the Chief Minister’s secretariat, who moved to the Centre recently.
Speculations over these two high-level postings have kept the state bureaucracy agog for quite some time now.
Two IAS officers of 1984 batch, Sanjay Agarwal and DS Mishra, are said to be strong contenders for the highest post for civil servants in the state. Both the officers are presently at the Centre. Sanjay Agarwal is Secretary (Agriculture) and Mishra is Secretary (Urban Development).
However, there could be more candidates as the incumbent Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey had superseded 12 officers in 2018 when he was appointed to the top post in the state bureaucracy.
The other IAS officers of the 1984 batch are Anant Kumar Singh, Dr Lalit Verma and Kumar Arvind Singh Dev. Rajive Kumar, another IAS officer of 1984 batch, is in jail since April 2016 after his conviction in plot allotment case at Noida in 1995.
Both Agarwal and Mishra are also seen as strong contenders for the post of Cabinet Secretary later as both have long service periods with their retirement due by the end of 2022.
In the 1985 batch, there are two senior officers in Lucknow — Deepak Trivedi and RK Tewari.
If Anup Chandra Pandey is not given another extension, the choice could be RK Tewari, who is now holding the key position of Agriculture Production Commissioner. He is also holding the charge of Additional Chief Secretary (Higher Education) after Trivedi was shifted as Chairman of Board of Revenue.
The other contenders from the 1986 batch could be Mukul Singhal, Alok Sinha, Alok Tandon, Umesh Sinha and Kumar Kamlesh. The other choice could be to give Pandey another extension, seeking more time for picking his successor.