Munish Sood
Shimla/Mandi:
The internal fault lines within the Sukhu government have now come out in the open, turning a controversy over bureaucracy into a full-blown political confrontation.
After Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh publicly accused IAS and IPS officers from outside the state of working against Himachal’s interests, two senior cabinet ministers — Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh — have stepped in to defend the officers and strongly disapproved of Vikramaditya’s remarks.
Both ministers termed the statement unfortunate and irresponsible, making it clear that targeting officers for administrative failures is unacceptable.
Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi said that most officers posted in Himachal Pradesh were working sincerely and efficiently, and painting the entire bureaucracy with a single brush was unfair.
He maintained that administrative shortcomings could not be casually attributed to officers, and that “sweeping allegations only weakened governance and morale”.
“The system cannot run on accusations. If there are problems in implementation, they need to be addressed institutionally, not through public attacks,” Negi indicated.
Anirudh’s blunt message: Leadership must know how to get work done
Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh went a step further, openly defending the officers and placing responsibility squarely on political leadership.
“Officers are doing their job. A minister must know how to get work done from the administration. If someone is facing problems in his department, that reflects his own administrative failure. One cannot hide incompetence by blaming officers,” he said.
Anirudh Singh added that he had never faced any difficulty with officers in his department and that they had always delivered as expected.
Are officers on target or Chief Minister?
The political debate has now shifted from bureaucracy to leadership. Sources believe that as administrative control and financial powers rest with the Chief Minister, Vikramaditya Singh could actually be questioning the authority of the Chief Minister in the guise of attack on bureaucracy.
Also, the strong defence mounted by Jagat Singh Negi and Anirudh Singh is widely being seen as a clear political message in support of the Chief Minister’s leadership.
Power struggle within govt now in open
Political analysts believe the controversy is not merely about officers but reflects a deeper power struggle within the ruling establishment.
They say on one side stand Vikramaditya Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and on the other are Chief Minister Sukhu and Ministers Jagat Singh Negi and Anirudh Singh.
It is widely perceived that leaders associated with the Virbhadra Singh Holly Lodge political legacy are increasingly vocal about delays and roadblocks in their departments, while the Chief Minister’s camp insists that governance is functioning smoothly
Meanwhile, the combined statements of Jagat Singh Negi and Anirudh Singh send a clear signal that the government would not tolerate public scapegoating of officers for political or administrative failures.
What began as a criticism of “outsider officers” has now turned into a serious internal confrontation, exposing tensions, rival power centres and competing political narratives within the Sukhu government.
