Some Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) officials expect Kumar to get another six-month term given the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, which are due to be held in early 2025. They feel Kumar understands the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government best and the role of the Chief Secretary will be critical during the run-up to the elections.

Other DoPT officials said it would be a strange situation if he works under the consultative command of the new Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, who is an IAS officer of the 1989 batch from Sikkim cadre and two batches junior to Kumar.  

They wonder if Kumar would be okay with this arrangement. However, others feel this may not apply in case of extensions, as many Secretaries are senior to the newly-appointed Home Secretary and are working under his consultative command. 

In case an extension is not given, a number of candidates' names are doing the rounds as a possible replacement. The names include Goa Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel, a 1991-batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre, and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Dharmendra, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the same cadre. The two have wide experience working with the Delhi government.

Goel, who has been the Goa Chief Secretary since January 2022, is a B Tech (Electrical Engineering) from IIT Kanpur, M Tech (Power Systems) from IIT Delhi, MBA (Finance), MS (Computer Networking) from the University of Southern California, and PhD (Renewable Energy) from IIT Delhi.

Goel has earlier held several key positions, including Director (Thermal), Ministry of Power; Secretary (Power), Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Development Commissioner, Delhi; Commissioner, Transport, Delhi and Director, Delhi Jal Board, among others

Goel has more than 12 years of experience in the power sector and has published 20-plus papers (2007-2018) on power generation through renewable energy sources.

Officials also consider Dharmendra to be an ideal successor to Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar. Before succeeding Kumar as the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Secretary in June 2022, Dharmendra was the NDMC Chairman.

The incumbent Delhi Chief Secretary has had a remarkable career. A graduate in mechanical engineering and an MBA, Naresh Kumar served as the chairman of the New Delhi Municipal Council from 2015 to 2019 and was managing director and chairperson of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) from 2009 to 2011, including the period when Delhi hosted the Commonwealth Games.