This has been facilitated with the induction of Vijai Kapoor as the new Lt Governor for Delhi an appointment in which the Delhi Chief Minister's views were reportedly side-stepped by the Centre.

It may be recalled that V N Singh, a senior additional commissioner with the Delhi Police, was tipped as the man to replace Kakkar. A formal order to the effect was expected by the middle of this month. This was translated as a major victory for Sahib Singh who has been pressing for his transfer, losing no opportunity to criticise the police force for its ``inefficiency'' to handle problems from bomb blasts to traffic snarls.

While Sahib Singh's displeasure fell on deaf ears earlier, it was felt that with the Bharatiya Janata Party taking over at the Centre, one of the first changes to take place would be the transfer of police chief. Sources say the argument which has gone in favour of Kakkar's continuation as police chief is the fact that he retires in October this year. It, therefore, would make more bureaucratic sense to let him retire as the police chief and then look for a replacement, rather than give him a new posting for a few months.But this schedule does not agree with the Delhi Chief Minister who is looking at possible assembly elections in October.

A similar course seems to be charted out for other senior posts which may undergo a reshuffle. The next post that has again led to an intense tussle between Sahib Singh and Khurana's camp is that of the Municipal Commissioner of Delhi. While Sahib Singh Verma is said to be keen on replacing MCD Commissioner V K Duggal with Finance Secretary Virendra Singh.

Khurana is said to be lobbying for former DVB chairman Subhash Sharma.