<p>They were among the probables, front-runners and strong contenders. <br /><br /></p>.<p>But in the race for two of Haryana’s top jobs, some senior bureaucrats find themselves in a nowhere land with chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda deciding to retain the incumbents.<br /><br />With chief secretary P K Chaudhary getting a six-month extension and Hooda’s principal secretary Chhatar Singh getting another three months (he got a three-month extension in April), the race for these jobs by strong contenders has ended for now.<br /><br />In the present set-up, there are eight officers in the rank of additional chief secretary who were in contention after Chaudhary’s expected retirement on June 30. <br /><br />The front-runners included Krishna Mohan and S C Chaudhary. Mohan will retire during Chaudhary’s extended tenure.<br /><br />Others included Shakuntla Jakhu, Ajit M Sharan, Ramendra Jakhu, Samir Mathur, P K Gupta and K K Jalan. Another officer, Harbaksh Singh, died last month.<br /><br />Chaudhary, the brother-in-law of Haryana’s powerful industries and parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Surjewala, will continue in office at least till December-end.<br /><br />Hooda’s principal secretary Chhatar Singh has got a second three-month extension. He was given a three-month extension in April.<br /><br />The name of senior IAS officer S S Dhillon was being mentioned in political circles for the principal secretary’s job. However, he continues to be additional principal secretary. <br />Another strong contender, K K Khandelwal, who is also an additional principal secretary, will also have to wait for now.<br /><br />Hooda’s office and government now have quite a handful of retired officers or those on extension. Among them is Hooda’s principal officer on special duty M S Chopra. Another re-employed OSD is B R Beri. Shadi Lal Kapoor is another re-employed person in the chief minister’s office.<br /><br />Another retired officer in the chief minister’s office is P V Rathee, the principal advisor to Hooda on home and security matters. Rathee had retired as director general of police.<br /><br />Hooda has also appointed K V Singh as OSD-media in his office.<br /><br />Some retired bureaucrats considered close to Hooda have been accommodated as state information commissioners or in other posts.<br /><br />These include former chief secretary Naresh Gulati and his wife Urvashi Gulati (chief information commissioner and information commissioner respectively), R N Prasher (chairman, Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission) and Dharam Vir (state election commissioner).</p>
<p>They were among the probables, front-runners and strong contenders. <br /><br /></p>.<p>But in the race for two of Haryana’s top jobs, some senior bureaucrats find themselves in a nowhere land with chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda deciding to retain the incumbents.<br /><br />With chief secretary P K Chaudhary getting a six-month extension and Hooda’s principal secretary Chhatar Singh getting another three months (he got a three-month extension in April), the race for these jobs by strong contenders has ended for now.<br /><br />In the present set-up, there are eight officers in the rank of additional chief secretary who were in contention after Chaudhary’s expected retirement on June 30. <br /><br />The front-runners included Krishna Mohan and S C Chaudhary. Mohan will retire during Chaudhary’s extended tenure.<br /><br />Others included Shakuntla Jakhu, Ajit M Sharan, Ramendra Jakhu, Samir Mathur, P K Gupta and K K Jalan. Another officer, Harbaksh Singh, died last month.<br /><br />Chaudhary, the brother-in-law of Haryana’s powerful industries and parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Surjewala, will continue in office at least till December-end.<br /><br />Hooda’s principal secretary Chhatar Singh has got a second three-month extension. He was given a three-month extension in April.<br /><br />The name of senior IAS officer S S Dhillon was being mentioned in political circles for the principal secretary’s job. However, he continues to be additional principal secretary. <br />Another strong contender, K K Khandelwal, who is also an additional principal secretary, will also have to wait for now.<br /><br />Hooda’s office and government now have quite a handful of retired officers or those on extension. Among them is Hooda’s principal officer on special duty M S Chopra. Another re-employed OSD is B R Beri. Shadi Lal Kapoor is another re-employed person in the chief minister’s office.<br /><br />Another retired officer in the chief minister’s office is P V Rathee, the principal advisor to Hooda on home and security matters. Rathee had retired as director general of police.<br /><br />Hooda has also appointed K V Singh as OSD-media in his office.<br /><br />Some retired bureaucrats considered close to Hooda have been accommodated as state information commissioners or in other posts.<br /><br />These include former chief secretary Naresh Gulati and his wife Urvashi Gulati (chief information commissioner and information commissioner respectively), R N Prasher (chairman, Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission) and Dharam Vir (state election commissioner).</p>