Lucknow, Aug. 2 -- Newly appointed Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Shashi Prakash Goyal is set to have a prolonged stint at the top of the state bureaucracy as his retirement is due about 18 months from now at the end of January 2027. His likely long tenure will give him sufficient time to push chief minister Yogi Adityanath's governance agenda in the run-up to the assembly polls. With the next assembly elections expected in early 2027, there is a buzz in the corridors of power that Goyal may be given at least a three-month extension to ensure administrative continuity during the poll period. Seen as a trusted officer of both the state and central governments, Goyal is expected to play a key role in steering the administration during the politically sensitive year ahead. The 1989-batch IAS officer was appointed the chief secretary on Thursday on the retirement of Manoj Kumar Singh who had entered the office on June 30, 2024."Goyal who had been serving the CM's office as principal secretary/additional chief secretary since 2017 is poised to have one of the longest tenures in recent years after DS Mishra (30 months) and RK Tiwari (27 months) and Javed Usmani (26 months)," a senior bureaucrat said. His extended stay is likely to dampen the aspirations of over a dozen IAS officers as all of them will retire from the service by the time Goyal completes his tenure. Prominent among those who will reach the age of superannuation before the end of Goyal's tenure are Deepak Kumar, currently posted as the agriculture production commissioner and Union agriculture secretary Devesh Chaturvedi.Both Kumar and Chaturvedi, along with Goyal were serious contenders for the chief secretary's post. Chaturvedi, also a 1989-batch IAS officer, is due to retire in February 2026, one year prior to Goyal. Deepak Kumar, a 1990-batch officer, will attain the age of 60 in October 2026.The other IAS officers who are likely to miss the chance to head the bureaucracy of India's most populous state are Manoj Singh (1989 batch), who is due to retire in December this year, and Board of Revenue chairman Anil Kumar (1989 batch) who will reach the age of superannuation in May 2026.The other officers are Himanshu Kumar (1990), SM Bobde (1990), Archana Agrawal (1990), Kamran Rizvi (1991), L Venkateshwarlu (1991), Amit Kumar Ghosh (1994) and Subhash Chandra Sharma (1996). The likelihood of Goyal remaining in office through the election period, and possibly beyond, due to his proximity to both the state and the Central leadership, will reinforce his firm hold on the state's top administrative post as the Yogi government enters a key electoral phase....