ALL THE YOGI'S MEN

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.

- Prashant Srivastava

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.

There is a saying in UP's power circles that the chief minister trusts his close-knit team of IAS officers more than his cabinet colleagues. And with Awasthi and Sehgal out of the picture, the state has now seen the emergence of new power centres-a mix of seasoned bureaucrats and young faces, to whom Yogi has entrusted the keys to the kingdom. First among them is the 1988-batch officer Manoj Kumar Singh, or MKS as he is known in the power corridors. He not only holds charge of the panchayati raj, horticulture and food processing departments as additional chief secretary but also acts as the infrastructure & industrial development commissioner, UPEIDA chief, and chairman, Noida Authority.