Lobbying begins for J&K chief secretary's post

JAMMU: Even as the Congress and the People''s Democratic Party (PDP) slug it out for chief ministership in the state, behind-the-scenes lobbying has begun for the post of J&K''s chief secretary.
With incumbent I S Malhi due to retire on October 31 the two main contenders are Wajahat Habibullah and M S Pandit, who have already started lobbying within the political circles for the top post.
While Habibullah is an IAS officer from the 1968 batch, Pandit is from 1969 batch and can become chief secretary only if he supersedes other senior officers.
It wouldn''t be surprising, however, if a third person becomes the chief secretary in case the deadlock over government formation is not resolved within the next few days.
Malhi, an IAS officer of the 1966 batch, succeeded Ashok Jaitley six months ago after the Centre turned down the-then chief minister Farooq Abdullah''s request for granting extension to Jaitley who then went on to become Farooq''s principal advisor.
If no government is formed within the next 10 days, Governor Girish Chander Saxena can request the Centre to grant an extension to Malhi till such time as a new government is sworn in.
Alternatively, the governor can ask the seniormost civil servant to take charge from the outgoing chief secretary. In that case, the post can go to K B Pillai, an IAS officer from the 1967 batch.
The third option before the governor is to appoint a regular chief secretary of his choice. In that case, even a junior officer can assume the top post by superseding his peers.
Another officer from the 1967 batch is Jalil Ahmed Khan, who is at present working as the financial commissioner (finance). While Khan is due to retire in July next year, Pillai will superannuate in March 2004.
Director-general of police (DGP) Ashok Suri is about to complete two years in the top post and if a new dispensation assumes charge, he too is likely to make way for someone else. As of now, however, his continuation in the office for some time seems likely.