Uttar Pradesh | All the Yogi’s men
With IAS officers Awanish Awasthi and Navneet Sehgal out of the picture, the state’s administrative machinery undergoes a remodelling
Uttar Pradesh’s ‘steel frame’ is undergoing a remodelling, with the era of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers Awanish Awasthi and Navneet Sehgal—of the 1987 and 1988 batch, respectively—coming to an end after the latter’s retirement on July 31. The two senior bureaucrats had been running the show in India’s most populous state for the past many years. Sehgal’s golden era, in fact, started under former chief minister Mayawati’s regime in 2007. Establishing his credentials as the CM’s troubleshooter, he continued to call the shots under Akhilesh Yadav and the incumbent, Yogi Adityanath, before getting sidelined during the fag end of his career. Awasthi, on the other hand, had his best phase in Yogi’s first term (2017-22), heading several key departments such as the home and Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). Seen as Yogi’s most trusted lieutenant and go-to man, he retired last July, though later brought on board in an advisory role.