Overview
- He said public servants should not act like rulers and affirmed he would keep raising concerns over alleged arbitrary fund allocation by some non‑local IAS and IPS officers.
- The Himachal IAS and IPS associations condemned his comments as harmful to morale and neutrality, with the IPS body urging the government not to post any IPS officer with him.
- Responding to the IPS association’s request, he noted he currently has no IPS officer attached and added that he can forgo police protection.
- Cabinet colleagues split publicly, as Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh called the remarks unfortunate and urged ministers to get work done through officers, while Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi rejected sweeping generalizations and asked for specific names.
- He linked his stance to Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri’s December warning to bureaucrats, and the row is being read through the prism of internal Congress dynamics ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in April 2026.