Premium

With Vivek Joshi appointed election commissioner, hunt for new Haryana chief secretary begins

While five 1990-batch IAS officers are in the reckoning for the Haryana chief secretary post, Anurag Rastogi is likely to be picked, according to sources.

Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, has been appointed the election commissioner. (Express Photo/Tashi Tobgyal)

Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, has been appointed as the election commissioner. (Express Photo/Tashi Tobgyal)

With Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, appointed the election commissioner on Monday, the search for Haryana’s new chief secretary has begun. Joshi had taken over as Haryana’s chief secretary in November 2024.

The new chief secretary will likely be chosen from among five 1990-batch IAS officers – Sudhir Rajpal, Sumita Misra, Anurag Rastogi, Anand Mohan Sharan, and Raja Sekhar Vundru. Sources said that Rastogi is likely to be picked even though he is set to retire on June 30.

Currently, all five officers are posted as additional chief secretaries, with Rajpal in charge of health, Misra of home, Rastogi of finance, Sharan of environment, and Vundru of agriculture. Rajpal is the senior-most officer in the group, followed by Misra.

Story continues below this ad

Also Read | Gyanesh Kumar is new CEC: Played key roles in J&K reorganisation, setting up Ram Temple trust

While Rajpal is due to retire on November 30, 2026, Misra will retire on January 30, 2027, Sharan on August 31 this year, and Vundru on July 31, 2026.

The officers have been involved in a seniority dispute for several months. Three officers of the 1990 batch, Rastogi, Vundru and Ankur Gupta (he has since retired), had challenged the gradation list, claiming that Rajpal and Misra, who were placed above them, should be lower in the pecking order as they were ‘outsiders’ and not originally from the Haryana cadre. While Rajpal came from Himachal Pradesh, Misra was transferred from Jammu and Kashmir.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram