BJP president Nadda gets knee replaced at Delhi’s Apollo hospital

Pre-Truth — snappy, witty and significant snippets from the world of politics and government.

BJP president J.P. Nadda | File photo: ANI

J.P. Nadda gets knee replaced by surgeon who once treated M.S. Dhoni

BJP president J.P. Nadda took a break from his busy schedule to undergo knee replacement surgery at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi last week. A few days after the surgery, he was being “mobilised” — a process in which a patient is made to walk so that he adjusts to the new implant — before being discharged from the hospital.

Nadda reposed his faith in Dr Yash Gulati, an orthopaedic surgeon who has in the past treated numerous sportspersons including former India cricket captain M.S. Dhoni.

Nadda, who replaced Amit Shah as BJP chief last year, will have a lot of travelling and public speaking to do early next year, when five states are set to go to the polls. The BJP is facing anti-incumbency in all but one, Punjab.

Incidentally, in 2001, then-prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had also undergone a knee transplant surgery, at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital, which inspired many Indians to shake off their hesitancy about it.

Who will be Andhra’s next chief secy? Former post-holder’s husband among names in fray

Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary Adityanath Das’s term is ending on 30 September, after a three-month extension pushed back the 1987-batch IAS officer’s date of superannuation. Now, there is much speculation in the state’s corridors of power about who will take over the post from Das.

Among the names doing the rounds is Ajay Sawhney, a 1984-batch IAS officer, who is currently the secretary of the Union Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. His wife, Nilam Sawhney, an officer from the same batch, served as chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh from 2019 to January 2021, and had her tenure extended by six months. In March, she was appointed the State Election Commissioner.

This is not the first time Ajay Sawhney’s name has been doing the rounds for the Andhra chief secretary’s post. In 2020, there was a buzz that he would succeed Nilam Sawhney.

Ajay Sawhney spent years serving in the state’s irrigation department, and also supervised Polavaram Irrigation Project at one time. He was also part of former CM Chandrababu Naidu’s office for a brief period.

A second name doing the rounds as Das’ successor is K.S. Jawahar Reddy, the current executive officer of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD). Before being appointed to this post, the 1990 batch IAS officer was the state health secretary, and played a crucial role in handling Covid-19 last year.

A third probable candidate for chief secretary is Satish Chandra, a 1986-batch officer, who is serving as special chief secretary in the higher education and skills department. He was special chief secretary to Chandrababu Naidu and was transferred on 30 May 2019, the day Jagan Mohan Reddy took over as CM. The IAS officer was made to wait almost five months before a fresh posting was given.

Another name on the speculated list is that of Neerabh Kumar Prasad, a 1987-batch IAS officer who is the current Chief Commissioner of Land Administration. In fact, he served as chief secretary in 2019 for a brief period, after L.V. Subrahmanyam’s transfer.

(Edited by Shreyas Sharma)