Lucknow: Bhadohi District Magistrate Vishal Singh replaced Shishir Singh, who was considered close to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, as the new director, information and culture in a midnight reshuffle.
Overall, 33 IAS officers, including district magistrates of 11 districts, and three IPS officers were transferred in the latest round of administrative rejig.
Shishir Singh’s transfer came as a shocker for many in bureaucratic circles, as he served the department for over five years, the longest tenure by any director of information in UP. He was made special secretary, MSME.
While senior functionaries at the chief minister’s office (CMO) claim that Singh had already completed five years and that the CM wanted to give a chance to other officials, sources in the BJP revealed that the transfer was also recommended in the report submitted by the party’s state unit after the setback in the 2024 general elections.
In that report, a senior functionary in the BJP told ThePrint, party functionaries had given feedback about several key officials who did not listen to them.
“Later, a cabinet minister (Ashish Patel) also made some accusations against some officials and included Shishir Singh in his statements. So, there was pressure mounting on the chief minister from the central leadership, also,” the functionary added
Vishal Singh had earlier served as vice-chairman of the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) and municipal commissioner of Ayodhya between 2020 and 2024, a period that coincided with the Ram Mandir and other project initiatives.
Earlier, Singh was serving as the secretary of Varanasi Development Authority and the CEO of Kashi Vishwanath temple. It was during his stint in Varanasi that the makeover of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor was initiated in 2019.
The incoming information director is said to be trusted both by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2016, when he was still an officer of the provincial civil services (PCS) in UP, the civil servant was brought to the Centre and posted as the project director of the Modi government’s Government E-Marketplace (GEM) project. Later, he was posted to the Prime Minister’s parliamentary constituency.
A senior official in the UP government said PM Modi had praised Singh for the Kashi Corridor makeover, and he was transferred to Ayodhya soon for another important task, though just before the Lok Sabha polls, he was transferred to Bhadohi.
जिलाधिकारी श्री @VishalSinghIAS जी ने माननीय मुख्यमंत्री श्री @myogiadityanath जी को भदोही के बुनकर द्वारा बनायी गई “मुख्यमंत्री जी के चित्र कालीन” को सप्रेम भेंट किया। pic.twitter.com/FimjOTWYaJ
— District Magistrate Bhadohi (@DM_Bhadohi) January 5, 2025
A few weeks ago, the Bhadohi DM had made headlines when he presented the CM with his portrait woven onto a carpet. The incident led to some whispers within the IAS circles over the issue of the propriety of an officer presenting the chief minister his portrait.
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Significant changes in Varanasi
Among the notable changes, S. Rajalingam, the incumbent DM of Varanasi, was promoted as the Varanasi divisional commissioner. Special Secretary to the Chief Minister, Satyendra Kumar, was appointed as the new DM of Varanasi. Kaushal Raj Sharma, who served as the commissioner of Varanasi division, has now been appointed secretary to the CM.
Satyendra, according to administrative sources, gained the trust of Yogi at his office and now the CM has chosen him for the important constituency of Varanasi. Rajalingam and Sharma gained trust of those BJP functionaries who look after the PM’s constituency, they added.
District magistrates (DMs) in major districts such as Azamgarh, Hapur, Bareilly, Ambedkar Nagar, Ghazipur, Jhansi, Kushinagar, Mahoba, Bhadohi, and Sant Kabir Nagar have been changed.
Hapur DM Prerna Sharma was made director of State Urban Development Agency, and principal secretary (Stamps and Registration) Amit Gupta took over as principal secretary, transport, and chairman of Uttar Pradesh Transport Corporation.
Senior IPS officer D.K. Thakur was appointed as Additional Director General (ADG), Special Security Force (SSF), Lucknow while Bhanu Bhaskar made ADG, Meerut Zone and Sanjeev Gupta posted as ADG, Prayagraj Zone.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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