Intense lobbying is on among top bureaucrats of Rajasthan to get the coveted post of chief secretary as present incumbent S Ahmed is retiring by the end of the month.

CK Mathew, presently serving as additional chief secretary (finance) has emerged as front-runner for the post though there are a few others in the race.

A 1977 batch officer, Mathew is considered very close to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. In the last tenure of Gehlot as Chief Minister, Mathew had served as his secretary for five years.

When Gehlot again became Chief Minister in December, he picked up Mathew as head of the crucial Finance department, which Gehlot kept with himself.

Ram Lubhaya, additional chief secretary, water resources, is the other contender for the post. But he is due to retire in April next, whereas Mathew is set to serve till July 2014. Ram Lubhaya, whose father-in-law was also an IAS officer, belongs to SC. He is known for his efficiency and got a posting even during BJP Government.

According to sources, a considerable number of SC legislators from both the parties are lobbying to get extension for this 1978 IAS officer so that he could be considered for the post of chief secretary. But those who are opposed to giving extension to Ram Lubhaya say that if this was made a precedent, others including Meenakshi Hooja who is retiring in July, would also seek the same.

PK Deb, additional chief secretary, Urban Development, is senior to Ram Lubhaya as he belongs to 1977 batch. But he himself is not keen to get the post as he was trying for a deputation at the Centre. Even otherwise, he is known for taking different stand on issues and in the past had refused to buckle under pressure from his political bosses. In the wake of Gopalgarh police firing, when the Government decided to suspend district police superintendent Higlajdan and Collector Krishan Kunal, as then head of Home department, Deb refused to sign the orders and sought to proceed on leave.

In September 2009 also when T Srinivasan was retiring as chief secretary, Mathew had emerged as front-runner since he had enough time to serve the Government. Gehlot in an effort to appease the minority Muslim community, decided in favour of Ahmed. At that time, Mathew was reportedly assured of the post after the retirement of Ahmed.

Before Srinivasan, Gehlot had made Ms Kushal Singh as chief secretary purely on political consideration as she belonged to Jat community. By giving her this coveted post, Gehlot had made his best effort to appease the Jat leaders.