Former UP cadre IAS officer Awanish Awasthi’s tenure as advisor to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been extended for the fourth time till February 28, 2027. He has been on uninterrupted extensions since 2023. Awasthi’s closeness with CM Yogi can be gauged from the fact that he was accompanying the CM on his five-day tour of Singapore and Japan to lure investors and just returned to Lucknow on Friday only to be greeted with another extension in a row.
This latest extension is being held in the bureaucratic circles as a Holi gift from CM Yogi to one of his most trusted lieutenants.
Awasthi had been awarded a third extension for a year in 2025 following the conclusion of the Maha Kumbh. His tenure was due to expire on Feb 28, 2026.
Even during Yogi Adityanath’s first term as UP Chief Minister, Awanish Awasthi served as Principal Secretary in the crucial Home and Information Departments.
It needs special mention that a temporary post of administrative advisor was created to accommodate Awasthi after his retirement in 2022. After his first term ended on Feb 28, 2023, it was temporarily extended from March 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024. His term was then extended a second time, from March 1, 2024, to February 28, 2025. Then the third time from March 1, 2025, to Feb 28, 2026. And this is the fourth one, from March 1, 2026, to Feb 28, 2027. And the counting goes on….
However, Awasthi is not alone on Yogi’s advisory board. Rather, he is one of four advisors to the UP CM. The three others are GN Singh, KV Raju, and DP Singh.
Awasthi’s close proximity to Yogi is hardly a secret, as he has been known as one of the most trusted advisors to the CM, and this latest extension is considered crucial as he will be serving as Yogi’s advisor in the run-up to the assembly elections scheduled to be held in 2027.
An IIT Kanpur alumnus and 1987 batch IAS, Awanish Awasthi retired from the post of Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) to the Chief Minister, Home and Confidentiality, and Civil Aviation on August 31, 2022.
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