Appointment of CPS to CM kept in abeyance

Hours after Rajesh Khullar was appointed Chief Principal Secretary to CM, his appointment was kept in abeyance till further orders on Friday night.

Around 8 pm on Friday, retired bureaucrat Khullar was appointed as the Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in the rank and status of Cabinet Minister. It was also mentioned that his term will be co-terminus with the term of the CM.

However, by midnight, Chief Secretary TVSN Prasad issued another order, saying, “The orders issued with regard to the appointment of the Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Haryana, are kept in abeyance till further orders.”

An aide of former CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Khullar had earlier served as his Principal Secretary for five years. He then moved to the World Bank as Executive Director in 2020. In 2023, he came back to the state and after his retirement, he was appointed as Chief Principal Secretary to the CM.

Even after Nayab Singh Saini replaced Khattar this year, he continued to occupy the same position.

Another Khattar aide, 1993-batch IAS officer Venkatesan Umashankar, who served as Principal Secretary to CM for four years, has moved to Delhi as Secretary, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved his appointment today. Even when Saini replaced Khattar as CM, he continued as Principal Secretary to Chief Minister.

Umashankar gets Central duty

Venkatesan Umashankar, an aide of Union Minister ML Khattar and 1993-batch IAS officer, who served as Principal Secretary to CM for four years, has been appointed the Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved his appointment on Saturday