AP Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney is continuing on extensions. This time, it is highly unlikely that she can get another extension. Already, speculation is rife in the AP political and Secretariat circles on who would be the next Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh.

As usual, greater curiosity is on the CS posting. It is mainly because not every officer can adjust with the functioning of the AP Chief Minister. We have seen how LV Subrahmanyam got a humiliating exit just because he put objections to some policies of the Chief Minister.

Now, there are many seniors who are eligible for this post. But there is no competition. On various grounds, nearly six to seven senior IAS officers are not in the race for the CS post. As such, Adityanath Das is highly likely to become the next Chief Secretary. As of now, he is Special Chief Secretary for the irrigation department. The Government is making him the OSD in the CS office soon. This is only to help him get a grip over administration by the end of this.

Actually, next to Nilam Sawhney, her husband Ajay Sawhney is there in seniority but he is in Central services. After him, there are Sameer Sarma, Reddy Subrahmanyam, Abhay Tripathi, Sateesh Chandra and JSV Prasad.

Sateesh Chandra opted out of the CS race because he worked in the Chandrababu peshi for a long time. Various issues have cropped up with respect to other officers.