New Chief Secretary Expected to Take Over Soon After Vivek Joshi’s Appointment as Election Commissioner
CHANDIGARH: Soon after the appointment of outgoing Haryana chief secretary Vivek Joshi as India’s Election Commissioner the race for new chief secretary begins with Anurag Rastogi appears as frontrunner for the appointment at the top administrative post.
The highly placed sources confirmed that the Rustogi a senior IAS officer from the 1990 batch, is expected to become Haryana’s next chief secretary.
Rastogi had briefly held the chief secretary’s position for three days in October 2024 before Joshi officially took charge and he is currently serving as the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, and Additional Chief Secretary (Finance)
However, there has been a seniority dispute among IAS officers of the 1990 batch as Sudhir Rajpal, Sumita Misra, Anurag Rastogi, Anand Mohan Sharan, and Raja Sekhar Vundru-all additional chief secretaries are among the top contenders. But sources revealed that Nayab Saini led BJP government in Haryana appears to favor Rastogi for the top post. Also Rustogi is set to retire on June 30. Whereas Sumita Misra will retire on January 30, 2027, Sharan on August 31 this year, and Vundru on July 31 next year.
As per the information the appointment of the new chief secretary is expected soon, and it may lead to a reshuffle in key departments like revenue and finance
Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch Haryana-cadrere had replaced Haryana Chief Secretary TVSN Prasad, a 1988 batch IAS officer who superannuated from the post in October 2024.