Change of chief secretary adds to buzz about tensions between Punjab CM Mann, Kejriwal

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Change of chief secretary adds to buzz about tensions between Punjab CM Mann, Kejriwal

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab through an order issued Wednesday appointed 1992-batch IAS officer of the Punjab  cadre K.A.P. Sinha as chief secretary, replacing Anurag Verma. Sinha, who is senior to Verma—an IAS officer of the 1993 batch—was superseded by the latter when he took over as chief secretary last June.

Verma has now been posted as additional chief secretary for revenue, rehabilitation, and disaster management; agriculture and farmer welfare; horticulture; and soil and water conservation.

Sinha, earlier posted as additional chief secretary (revenue), has been in the news ever since the AAP came to power in Punjab in March, 2022. 

He, along with state excise and taxation commissioner Varun Roojam and additional excise commissioner Naresh Dubey, was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in March this year in connection with alleged irregularities in Punjab’s 2022 excise policy.

The change in the top rung of the state’s bureaucracy is being seen as another indicator of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal tightening his grip on the government machinery in Punjab.

For instance, Sinha’s appointment as chief secretary came a day after Baltej Singh Pannu, a close aide and director  of communications to CM Bhagwant Mann, resigned his position. His exit was followed by that of Manpreet Kaur, also posted as director of communications. Earlier this month, Navneet Wadhwa, another director of communications, too had resigned.

And in September, Onkar Singh, posted as officer on special duty (OSD) to CM Mann, stepped down. 

While the others were part of the chief minister’s media team, the OSD largely oversaw Mann’s home district—Barnala.

Highly-placed party insiders admitted that these developments are part of a concerted move by the AAP’s national leadership to take charge of affairs in Punjab.

On Monday, Kejriwal had summoned some cabinet ministers from Punjab to the national capital to seek feedback about the functioning of the government. He, it is learnt, held one-on-one meetings with the ministers. Sources added that Kejriwal is expected to meet AAP MLAs from Punjab in the coming days, while also hinting that there is a possibility of the party leadership appointing a deputy to CM Mann—a promise it made in 2022.

Party insiders hinted that the AAP’s national leadership seems unhappy with Mann’s style of functioning. That the party was able to win only 3 of the state’s 13 Lok Sabha seats in the general election did not help his case.

This became more apparent when Kejriwal did not visit Mann when the latter was unwell and hospitalised in Mohali last month.

Further, it was also pointed out that Mann was not invited to speak at the function where Atishi took over as chief minister of Delhi on 21 September.

Upon his return to Chandigarh, Mann reshuffled his Cabinet, dropping four ministers and inducting five new faces in what appeared a bid to show the leadership he is taking steps to improve the functioning of the government.

Also Read: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s ‘fall at airport’ sets off barrage of insults from Oppn, AAP leaders mum

Mann’s days as CM ‘numbered’

The Opposition in Punjab, meanwhile, termed the bureaucratic shuffle as a sign that Mann’s days as chief minister “are numbered”.

Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Tuesday, “It’s clear Mann’s days as CM are numbered, as Kejriwal tightens control by appointing his aides from Delhi in Punjab’s CM house.”

On Wednesday, Bajwa in another post said the “takeover” of Punjab’s governance by Kejriwal is “unfolding in plain sight”.

Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who was with the AAP until January 2019, said “it is almost certain” that the AAP’s central leadership has decided to “clip the wings” of Bhagwant Mann and “eventually remove (replace) him with some more dummy leader”.

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Bikram Singh Majithia of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) too claimed that developments over the last few weeks show control of government slipping out of Mann’s hands. 

BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa added that Mann has “become the most powerless CM in Punjab’s history”.

“With Kejriwal pulling all the strings, it’s clear that Punjab is being run like a colony of Delhi,” he added.

Also Read: Political furore in Punjab after Mann govt seeks enhancement in borrowing limit, hikes taxes

 

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