Who will succeed Dr. A. Jayathilak as Chief Secretary of Kerala, is the question doing the rounds of administrative circles in Southern state of Kerala. Dr. Jayathilak is an IAS officer of the 1991 batch and is scheduled to retire on June 30, 2026. Whispers are rife that the incumbent Additional Chief Secretary in-charge of Finance in Kerala, K.R. Jyothilal (1993 batch) is the frontrunner for the post.

The most senior officer in the list is Manoj Joshi (1989 Batch) who is on deputation and serving as Secretary of the Department of Pharmaceuticals so is the number two Rachana Shah (1991 batch), who is serving as Secretary, DoPT. So, both these officers are unlikely to return to the state at this juncture. The other senior officer is Sanjeev Kaushik who was Principal Financial Sector Specialist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila and is back from deputation and has reportedly expressed his unwillingness for the top post.

This leaves Jyothilal and Bishwanath Sinha (1992 batch) as the contenders. Whispers have it that the new dispensation in Kerala under chief minister V. D. Satheesan is inclined towards Jyothilal.