There are still three more days until the counting of votes in the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections, and uncertainty remains about which party will come to power when the results are announced on June 4.
Despite this uncertainty, some IAS officers who were believed to be close to Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu during the previous TDP regime, and who had gone out of the state on deputation after Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power in 2019, are showing a keen interest in returning to the state.
One such officer is K Srinivasa Raju, who worked for a long time as the joint executive officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) during Naidu's regime.
He was reportedly very close to the Naidu family, and there were allegations that he used to carry suitcases to Naidu’s residence from the TTD every week.
During his tenure at the TTD, there were also allegations of carrying out repairs in the kitchen of the Tirumala temple to dig out hidden treasure, though these allegations were not subsequently proven.
However, within a month of Jagan taking over as the chief minister, Srinivasa Raju was removed from the TTD and asked to report to the General Administration Department without being given any posting in the government.
As a result, Srinivasa Raju applied for inter-cadre deputation to Telangana and, after extensive lobbying, he was transferred to Telangana on deputation.
Over the past four years, he has held various positions in Telangana, including the latest post of principal secretary of the Roads and Buildings Department.
Having completed four years on deputation in March, he applied for an extension of his deputation by a few more years, but the Central Administrative Tribunal did not grant his request.
While lobbying for a central deputation, he apparently received indications that the TDP-led NDA might come to power in Andhra Pradesh.
Consequently, he wrote a letter to Chief Secretary K S Jawahar Reddy 10 days ago, requesting permission to rejoin the AP cadre.
After receiving approval, Srinivasa Raju returned to AP and reported to the chief secretary. He is expected to be given a posting in a day or two.
