This is a rare phenomenon when two of the top offices get fresh faces simultaneously.
V Srinivas took over as the Rajasthan Chief Secretary from Sudhansh Pant on November 17, 2025. A couple of days later Akhil Arora replaced his batchmate Shikhar Agrawal (1993 batch) as Additional Chief Secretary in CMO.
While Pant has returned to centre to play another inning as Secretary in Modi government, Agrawal has been appointed as Additional Chief Secretary Industries in Rajasthan.
Now the slate is clean for both – V Srinivas and Akhil Arora – to write a new saga of development in the state.
Better equation likely between CMO and Chief Secretary office
With both the posts – Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary to CM – having new faces (V Srinivas and Akhil Arora), the equation is likely to change for better. Srinivas is four batches senior to Akhil Arora, who is a 1993 batch officer. Also, both Srinivas and Arora are said to be cool and calm officers with ‘problem solving' approach.
The exit of Sudhansh Pant from Rajasthan bureaucracy followed by immediate removal of Shikhar Agrawal from CMO sends a signal that everything was not fine between the two offices. Rumours that CMO and then Chief Secretary were not working in tandem, have gained strength after this development.
“When there is a war of egos between two officers, this is the simplest outcome. Both have to quit the field. It's just notional – who gained and who lost in the changing proposition,” said a senior IAS officer.
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