When O in CMO stands for open

Absence of the earlier gateway to the CM — Bharat Inder Singh Chahal — has also proved helpful. Chahal is on leave and there are no prospects of his returning to the job. Result: Fellow politicians, officers and journalists can now reach the CM on phone.

After facing brickbats for spending hardly any time in Chandigarh, and rare spottings at his office — ‘‘He is above 60. People don’t change at such age,’’ dissident leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal had said during the crisis — Amarinder is a man possessed to prove things have changed. At times, even his lackeys have been surprised by the CM’s diligence to keep to the schedule. Breakfast is preceded by an audience with visitors at his residence. And Secretariat has seen far more of him than ever in the last 21 months. Amarinder lands at Punjab Congress Bhawan and listened to complaints from small-time Congressmen. But the biggest change has been ushered in by Suresh Kumar — one just has to open the door and walk in. Senior officials say if he continues like this, dissidents will find it tough to evoke sympathy by recalling the fort-like functioning of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

Kumar is believed to have a good rapport with predecessor Sanjit K.Sinha. Sonepat-born Kumar’s association with the CM goes back to the mid-80s when he won the Talwandi Sabo Assembly seat. Kumar was SDM then.

A maze of OSDs and permanent hangers-on still works, but with the Patiala Royal changing, others are also falling in line. ‘‘It is a manned CMO now,’’ says a secretary-level official. Ask him how was it running earlier, and he snaps: ‘‘When was it running?’’