By IANS
Bangalore : Sudhakar Rao, a 1973 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and husband of Indian ambassador to China Nirupama Rao, Thursday took over as new chief secretary of Karnataka.
He replaces P.B. Mahishi who was sent out late Wednesday to a new post by governor Rameshwar Thakur.
Rao, a post-graduate in economics and a doctorate in public administration, supersedes four of his seniors.
Mahishi, a 1972 batch IAS officer, was considered close to the family of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his removal from the post of chief secretary was being talked about ever since the state was brought under president’s rule in November last year.
Soon after the news broke last Tuesday evening of Mahishi being removed from the post, Deve Gowda criticised the governor’s action and told reporters in the northern town of Hubli that he will write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the way the state was being governed under president’s rule.
After assuming office, Rao told reporters in Bangalore that his priority was to tone up the administration, particularly at the district level, as laxity seems to have set in. Another area of priority was to check the growth of extremist activities.
Rao’s reference to extremist activity comes in the wake of the arrest of three youths recently and their reported confession to having links with the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba.