Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Only nine days are left for the retirement of chief secretary Iqbal Singh Bains. Nevertheless, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has yet to open his cards about the name of the new chief secretary. As Bains does not seem to be keen on getting an extension, there are possibilities that a new chief secretary will be appointed.
After the retirement of the 1985-batch officer Bains, the next senior-most officer, Shailendra Singh, a 1987-batch officer, will retire next month. The chances of the 1988-batch officer Veera Rana getting the post are slim and another aspirant for the coveted post Anurag Jain is on deputation at the Centre. Against this backdrop, the 1989-batch officer Md Suleman is ahead of other officers in the race for the coveted post.
In the corridors of power, the name of Suleman and that of Jain have been in discussion for the past few days.
Should the state government want to appoint Jain as the chief secretary, they have to call him back from the Centre. The state government has yet to take an initiative for that. Besides the Central government is keeping mum over Jain’s return to the state. There are speculations that Jain will remain in Delhi. The chances of Suleman becoming the chief secretary look brighter than others.
The present chief secretary is considered loyal to Chouhan. The assembly elections in the state will be held next year. Both Suleman and Jain are close to Chouhan. Therefore, in an election year, the Chief Minister has to see who will be more favourable. All said and done, Suleman seems to be ahead of others in the race for the sought-after post.
