Telangana CM KCR is now finding himself on the dock on the issue of making senior bureaucrat Somesh Kumar the state's chief secretary. Somesh Kumar belonged to the AP cadre, but was made Telangana CM. He has been controversial all along with several colleagues being unhappy with his way of working. Now that the High Court has asked him to go back to AP cadre, to which he belongs, KCR is now in a piquant position.
Firstly, he has to now bat for the CS and justify all his controversial actions. Secondly, he has to bear with the now-infamous Dharani portal, which has brought a lot of disrepute for the state government. Several ministerial colleagues too were deeply dissatisfied with what they called Somesh Kumar's dictatorial ways. Many in the party blame KCR for giving 'undeserving' importance to Somesh Kumar.
Now the big task before KCR is to find a successor to Somesh Kumar immediately. The Central Government did not even give a breathing time to him to chose another CS as it repatriated Somesh Kumar to AP cadre with immediate effect. There are at least nine senior IAS officers who are in the queue. Senior bureaucrats Vasudha Mishra, Shanta Kumari, Rani Kumudini, Ashok Kumar, Sunil Sharma, Shashank Goel, Rajith Kumar, Ramakrishna Rao and Arvind Kumar are in line for the coveted post.
Sources say that chief minister KCR prefers Ramakrishna Rao as the CS, but son KTR is said to be rooting for Arvind Kumar. KTR's argument is that Arvind Kumar could be in the top position till 2026 as he is quite young. Anyone who becomes the next CS, will be overseeing the 2023 elections to the state assembly and thus is very critical to KCR's plans.
Firstly, he has to now bat for the CS and justify all his controversial actions. Secondly, he has to bear with the now-infamous Dharani portal, which has brought a lot of disrepute for the state government. Several ministerial colleagues too were deeply dissatisfied with what they called Somesh Kumar's dictatorial ways. Many in the party blame KCR for giving 'undeserving' importance to Somesh Kumar.
Now the big task before KCR is to find a successor to Somesh Kumar immediately. The Central Government did not even give a breathing time to him to chose another CS as it repatriated Somesh Kumar to AP cadre with immediate effect. There are at least nine senior IAS officers who are in the queue. Senior bureaucrats Vasudha Mishra, Shanta Kumari, Rani Kumudini, Ashok Kumar, Sunil Sharma, Shashank Goel, Rajith Kumar, Ramakrishna Rao and Arvind Kumar are in line for the coveted post.
Sources say that chief minister KCR prefers Ramakrishna Rao as the CS, but son KTR is said to be rooting for Arvind Kumar. KTR's argument is that Arvind Kumar could be in the top position till 2026 as he is quite young. Anyone who becomes the next CS, will be overseeing the 2023 elections to the state assembly and thus is very critical to KCR's plans.