Maharashtra may soon see a new babu at the helm, if the incumbent Ajoy Mehta (IAS:1984:MH) is not third time lucky in getting extension as the Chief Secretary. He was initially supposed to retire on Sept. 2019, but got two consecutive extensions, which are coming to end on June 30. But Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray wants yet another extension for him.
In case he fails to get his third extension, three officers are in the fray to succeed him. Senior-most of them is Mehta’s batch mate Sanjay Kumar (IAS:1984:MH), who is the additional chief secretary (home). Mehta shares a good rapport with Kumar and is likely to recommend his name.
The two other contenders are- additional chief secretaries- Praveen Pardeshi and S J Kunte, both 1985 batch officers.
Chief Minister Thackeray is said to prefer Kunte, who was side lined by the Devendra Fadnavis government.
If Sanjay Kumar gets the top job now, Pardeshi would still have a good chance of succeeding him when Kumar retires in February 2021. But if the dice goes in favour of Kunte, then Pardeshi’s chances of succeeding him would be dim, as he and Pardeshi are scheduled to retire on the same day.
