Much on expected lines, senior IPS officer Brajesh Singh was on Monday appointed as Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Singh is considered close to Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Singh.
Singh, an officer of the 1996-batch of the IPS, currently holds the rank of Additional Director General of Police and deputed as Deputy Director General of Home Guard.
When Fadnavis was the Chief Minister heading the BJP-Shiv Sena government, he was the Director General of Information and Public Relations, the publicity wing of the state government.
The appointment of Singh in Chief Minister’s Office assumes significance after the appointment of another Fadnavis confidante and IPS officer Deven Bharti, an officer of the rank of Director General of Police appointed as Special Commissioner of Police in Mumbai.
Singh and Bharti are considered powerful officers - and were shunted out when the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi came to power.
The CMO, as of now, comprises Additional Chief Secretary Bhushan Gagrani and Principal Secretary Vikas Kharge.
After Shinde-Fadnavis came to power, veteran infrastructure projects execution' expert Radheshyam Mopalwar, a retired Additional Chief Secretary, was made the Director General (War Room - Infrastructure Projects).