Senior IAS officer of 1992 cadre, Anand Bardhan has been empanelled for Secretary level posts in the Union Government and this has complicated the selection of the next Chief Secretary. Earlier when Radha Raturi was on leave, Anand Bardhan had officiated as the CS. Bardhan is being seen as the natural successor to her, but he has been empanelled as Secretary in the Union Government and hence the speculation. At present, he is the only IAS officer who holds eligibility in terms of having put in a minimum numbers of years in service to be promoted as CS. RK Sudhanshu, who is currently posted as Principal Secretary is another claimant. He is a 1997 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand Cadre. However, currently he does not hold eligibility of having put in 30 years of service as IAS officer to be promoted as Chief Secretary.