The intelligence wing is considered the eyes and ears of any Chief Minister. For six months, there is no full time chief for this wing in AP. After coming to power, CM Jaganmohan Reddy has tried to bring Telangana IPS officer Stephen Ravindra to fill the post. But for various reasons, the deputation of Stephen was delayed by the Centre. Because of that, Kumar Viswajith was given additional charge as intelligence chief. All these days, Jagan Reddy and Vijayasai Reddy continued efforts for Stephen. For his sake, no full time chief was appointed for intelligence wing.
In the recent weeks, the gap widened between Jagan Reddy and Modi-Shah duo. Even Vijayasai Reddy is banned from getting appointments of Union Ministers. Moreover, BJP AP leaders are objecting to deputation of pro-Jagan officers. BJP is also levelling charges of religious conversions picking up under Jagan rule. Another issue is BJP didn’t want a converted Christian like Stephen to occupy a key post. Consequently, all hopes of getting Stephen Ravindra are finally gone. Left with no alternative, YCP Circar at long last appointed Manish Kumar Sinha as the full-time intelligence chief. This has come as a surprise in IAS and IPS and official circles. Stephen was considered a favourite officer of the YSR family for decades. But a whole government waiting for six long months for a single officer is seen as something unusual in governance practices.