Kailashnathan appointed as Puducherry lieutenant governor

Less than a month after retiring as chief principal secretary at Gujarat chief minister’s office, Kuniyil Kailashnathan, 72, has been appointed as the lieutenant governor (LG) of Puducherry. The President appointed Kailashnathan as Puducherry LG even as governors of several states and LGs of two Union territories were changed.
KK, as he is popularly known, served in the state administration for 45 years and was arguably one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the state bureaucracy. He is the second bureaucrat of Gujarat, who served in the CMO and has been named LG. G C Murmu was named LG af J&K earlier.
Kailashnathan remained chief principal secretary to the CM from 2013 to 2024, and served in this capacity during the tenure of four chief ministers - Narendra Modi, Anandiben Patel, Vijay Rupani and Bhupendra Patel. Kailashnathan retired way back in May 2013, however, he was given the posting on the day of retirement as the chief principal secretary to the CM.
After a remarkable 45 years with the Gujarat govt, the 1979-batch retired IAS officer’s extended tenure with the Gujarat administration ended in June this year. KK joined the Gujarat CMO in 2006 as the principal secretary to then CM Narendra Modi. Ever since, he remained at the core of the state’s top administration.
He was a bridge between the bureaucracy and the political wing all these years, and remained a trusted aide of the PM when Modi took over as the PM in 2014.
For the past few years, he had been overseeing planning and execution of PM Modi’s ambitious Sabarmati Ashram redevelopment plan. He is credited with ensuring that the foundation stone of the £120 mn project was laid earlier this year, after it had been mired in legal tangles. PM Modi laid the foundation stone of the project in March this year. Sources said KK is likely to continue to supervise the ashram redevelopment project.