BJP workers wearing masks of BJP prime ministeral candidate Narendra Modi as they celebrate outside the party office in Mumbai on May 16, 2014.
In Gujarat, a team of bureaucrats have worked closely with chief minister Narendra Modi for more than a decade now. As Mr Modi finalises his team of ministers and bureaucrats at the Centre, there is speculation that he could take some of these key officials to the Prime Minister's Office.
This is his core team officials:
<b>Kuniyil Kailashnathan:</b> The man considered closest to the Prime Minister-elect. A 1979-batch IAS officer, he has been serving as principal chief secretary to the chief minister. Popularly known as KK, he had retired as additional chief secretary in the chief minister's office, or the CMO, last year, but Mr Modi retained his service, and assigned him a role on a contractual basis for two years. He is one of the key persons behind Mr Modi's political manoeuvres and it is through him that Mr Modi controlled the state's bureaucracy.
<b>GC Murmu:</b> The 1985-batch IAS officer is another person who enjoys the Prime Minister-designate's trust. He is the principal secretary to the chief minister, and has been handling legal issues confronted by both Mr Modi and Amit Shah. He shot into controversy when the GL Singhal tapes revealed that he had attended a meeting at the office of Gujarat advocate general where reportedly strategies were discussed to derail the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case. Mr Singhal, a Gujarat cadre IPS officer, is a co-accused in the case.
<b>Arvind Sharma:</b> A 1988-batch IAS officer who is also part of the core team. He is also designated as the principal secretary to the chief minister. A bureaucrat who many believe is the man behind the image-building exercise of Mr Modi through his interactions with the industry. He hails from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh and has played pivotal roles in organizing Vibrant Gujarat Investors Summits and was also posted as the chief executive officer of Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board.
<b>Vijay Nehra:</b> He is the youngest member of the team. A 2001-batch IAS officer, Mr Nehra worked as Ahmedabad district collector till about a year back. He was transferred as the joint secretary (law and order) in the home department with additional charge of joint secretary in the CMO. Later, his position was re-designated as additional secretary to the government in the CMO.
<b>AK Sharma:</b> Also considered close to the chief minister's office. He is a 1985-batch IPS official. Even though he is not part of the CMO, he is considered as the main link between the CMO and the police department. He is presently head of the Ahmedabad crime branch.
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