K. Kailashnathan, Chief Principal Secretary to Gujarat CM, Retires.

It’s the end of an era in Gujarat’s corridors of power. Kuniyil Kailashnathan, popularly known as KK, who has been helming the Chief Minister’s Office for almost 18 years as the state’s most powerful bureaucrat, stepped down on Saturday.

A 1979-batch IAS officer, Kailashnathan joined the Chief Minister’s Office in 2006 as Principal Secretary, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was serving his second term as the state’s CM. He has since been one of Modi’s most trusted aides, acting as his eyes and ears for all affairs related to Gujarat.

Kailashnathan demitted office in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel, as officials and staff of the CMO assembled to bid him an emotional farewell.

Kailashnathan retired in 2013 as Additional Chief Secretary, a year after Modi became Prime Minister, but was retained in the Gujarat CMO in a newly created position of Chief Principal Secretary. He has since been given multiple extensions, the last of which, for a period of six months, ended on June 30.

After Modi’s departure from Gandhinagar, Kailashnathan served under three Chief Ministers: Anandiben Patel from June 2014 to August 2016, Vijay Rupani from August 2016 to September 2021, and Bhupendrabhai Patel since then.