Somesh Kumar, the fulcrum of KCR’s welfare vision

HYDERABAD: The K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) government in Telangana may have drafted in several retired IAS and IPS officers – Anurag Sharma and A K Khan to name a few – as advisors into its administration since 2014. But the latest, of Somesh Kumar as the chief advisor to the chief minister and in a cabinet minister’s rank, takes the cake. In a nutshell, it signifies the price that the KCR regime puts on the presence of the Bihar-born senior bureaucrat in its governance.

A 1989-batch IAS officer, Somesh Kumar was appointed as the Telangana Chief Secretary in 2019. His elevation then grabbed all the eyeballs as he superseded many of his seniors to the coveted post in the state. Soon, he came to be known as an efficient administrator and more importantly, as the ‘man of all seasons’ whom KCR, the Chief Minister, would blindly trust and rely on any day.

Those privy to the day-to-day functioning of the state administration at the highest level would regard him as the fulcrum of KCR’s vision and execution of his schemes. He is said to have made his quiet but extensive contribution in bringing to life most of the BRS supremo’s welfare initiatives. The senior officer would also be recalled for his key role in identifying revenue-generating avenues and judiciously tapping them to fill the exchequer.

During the crippling times of COVID-19, Somesh Kumar is said to be instrumental in playing the balancing act, under the directions of KCR, to insulate the state’s economy from the pandemic-time meltdown which had severely impacted several other states.

He is incidentally the longest serving chief secretary of Telangana till date, having spent a little over three years in the all-important administrative chair. Had it not been for the quirk of destiny, he would have remained unchanged until the end of his service in December 2023 and had a more graceful retirement.

Enjoying the stature of KCR’s best and most trusted pointsman in administration, life seemed to have suddenly turned on its head when he was jolted by the Telangana High Court’s verdict on his cadre. In January this year, the Telangana High Court annulled an earlier order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) allocating Somesh Kumar to Telangana cadre, as per the division of officials between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana post bifurcation of the state.

With the Centre-controlled Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) relieving him from Telangana services and asking him to report in Andhra Pradesh, the senior IAS officer turned up in Amaravati a few days later. He however went on leave soon after giving his joining report and eventually opted for voluntary retirement on personal grounds.

There has been constant speculation since then that it was only a matter of time before he would be rewarded with an advisory role in the government. There were murmurs that he might even be considered as a BRS key functionary in Delhi to help the party expand its reach in the northern states. KCR himself heaping praises on him during his recent public meetings in Maharashtra only fuelled the talk on Somesh Kumar’s plunge into politics. Finally, the ‘brain from Bihar’ returned to the realm that he is most familiar with but in a new role as a possible key member of the Chief Minister’s think-tank.

In an irony of sorts, the GO notifying his latest appointment was issued by incumbent Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, one of the seniors that he so easily superseded three years ago to become the administrative boss of the state.