In major administrative rejig, Rajasthan govt transfers over 100 IAS officers
Jaipur (PTI): The Rajasthan government has transferred more than 100 IAS officers, including the divisional commissioners of Jaipur and Banswara, in a major administrative reshuffle.
According to a personnel department order late on Thursday, 96 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers were transferred while 10 awaiting orders have got a new posting.
Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Akhil Arora and Principal Secretary (Home) Anand Kumar, however, have retained their positions.
Arora was also the additional chief secretary in the finance department during the previous Congress government. Kumar has been in the home department since 2022.
Among those transferred in the reshuffle are the divisional commissioners of Jaipur and Banswara, besides the collectors of 13 districts, including Jaipur.
Shubhra Singh, who was posted as additional chief secretary (health), will take over as roadways chairperson. There had been discussions about replacing her for a long time.
Gayatri A Rathore has been transferred from the tourism department and will take charge as principal secretary in the health department.
Bhaskar Sawant will be the principal secretary of the public health engineering department. Samit Sharma has been transferred to the animal husbandry department.
Shreya Guha, the additional chief secretary in the transport department, has been transferred to the rural development department.
Vaibhav Galaria, who was the principal secretary in the agriculture department, will take charge as the principal secretary in the urban development and housing department. He replaces T Ravikant, who has been posted as principal secretary in the mines and petroleum department.
Bhanu Prakash Eturu, the chairperson of all three power companies in the state, will take over as secretary in the tribal development department. He has been replaced by Aarti Dogra as the discoms chief. Dogra was posted in the Chief Minister's Office during the previous Ashok Gehlot dispensation.
Neeraj K Pawan, the Banswara divisional commissioner, has been appointed as administrative secretary in the sports department. Rashmi Gupta will take charge as Jaipur divisional commissioner in place of Aarushi Ajay Malik.
Jitendra Soni, the new Jaipur collector, was given additional charges as collector of Dudu and Jaipur Rural.
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Kerala polls: ‘People rejected 10 years of misrule’, says AICC gen secy
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal on Monday said the Congress-led UDF’s sweeping victory in the Kerala Assembly polls was a clear verdict against the “arrogance”, corruption, and nepotism of the CPI(M)-led LDF government headed by CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
Addressing a press conference as counting of votes for all 140 Assembly constituencies neared completion, Venugopal said the outcome reflected public anger against what he termed “10 years of misrule” by the Left government.
He claimed that Vijayan’s victory in his home constituency, Dharmadam, was “only technical”, alleging that the CM trailed the UDF candidate in the initial rounds of counting and failed to secure a majority in his own village.
“He just escaped. He suffered a setback even in his home turf. He was the only person who did not realise the people’s mood in this election,” Venugopal said.
Alleging that the CPI(M) and the LDF had resorted to “communal and opportunistic politics”, he further claimed that the ruling front had entered into a “secret understanding” with the BJP in a bid to retain power for a third consecutive term.
He said that when a government driven by power and arrogance attempts to align with anyone to stay in office, even its own cadre turns against it.
Referring to the results, Venugopal said that while the UDF expected rebel CPI(M) leaders, including K Kunhikrishnan in Payyannur, to impact the vote share, their victories came as a surprise.
Describing the UDF’s performance as a “historic victory”, he attributed it to coordinated teamwork, grassroots mobilisation, and the dedication of party workers, adding that the alliance accepted the mandate “with humility”.
Venugopal also credited Rahul Gandhi’s campaign guarantees, calling them a “trump card” that helped voters focus on real issues and reject what he described as the LDF’s “false narratives”.
He claimed that the Congress witnessed one of its lowest levels of rebellion in this election, which contributed to the alliance’s strong performance.
The senior Congress leader further alleged that the BJP managed to win two seats with the help of the CPI(M), and asserted that forces attempting to divide society on communal lines should “learn a lesson” from Kerala’s verdict.
“This is the real Kerala story,” he said.
On the question of the next Chief Minister, Venugopal said the party leadership would decide at the earliest after due consultations.
The counting of votes began on Monday morning for all 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala, where the Congress-led UDF secured a decisive majority, defeating the CPI(M)-led LDF, which was seeking an unprecedented third consecutive term in office.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) posts, "Thank you to my brothers and sisters in Keralam for a truly decisive mandate. Congratulations to every UDF leader and worker for a hard-fought, well-run campaign. As I said before, Keralam has the talent, Keralam has the potential… pic.twitter.com/6T4IZbEmp4
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 4, 2026
