Ashok Gehlot faces a unique situation in his third innings as Chief Minister of Rajasthan — where he has enjoyed unchallenged supremacy so far within the party and respective governments, he now finds his authority undermined by his deputy Sachin Pilot.

Gehlot's every move is challenged by the young Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief, who not only has the ears of the party's national leadership but is also seeking his pound of flesh in the reorganisation of the government machinery underway in the state.

Pilot has managed to get a foothold in the newly-constituted government as deputy chief minister. Deputy CMs, have found their way into Gehlot's council in the past, but more as a stop-gap arrangement to tide over the uneasiness of caste confrontations ahead of polls.

In Gehlot's previous governments, Banwari Lal Bairwa and Kamla Beniwal were appointed in the final year of the government's tenure.

Similarly, Hari Shankar Bhabhra in the BJP government and Tikaram Paliwal (Congress) never enjoyed a full term. Despite their nomenclature, they were decorated pawns whose every move was in the hands of the chief minister. And thus Gehlot finds himself in unfamiliar territory.

With Pilot, he is at his uneasy best. The young Turk is likely to be his partner for the full five years of his term. He has not only managed to get his loyalists into the Cabinet but is also ensuring they get plum portfolios with the brokering abilities of the central leadership.

But the politician in him has been quick to rise to the challenge by bringing bureaucracy into play. In the fortnight since he took the oath of office, Gehlot has reshuffled half the bureaucracy in Rajasthan. Of a cadre-strength of 247, he has given new postings to 111 officers in three separate orders. According to records, around 20 officers are on deputation outside the state.

He not only rearranged his CMO by removing his predecessor Vasundhara Raje's entire team but has also transferred 28 collectors in 33 districts including Jaipur. The move comes at a time when none of the ministers, including Pilot, have been allocated portfolios, which means they have to work with the officers Gehlot has chosen for them.

In a departure from his previous tenures, he has appointed retired bureaucrats Arvind Mayaram and Govind Sharma as his Economic Advisor and Political Advisor, making it clear that he is likely to keep the Finance portfolio.

The Chief Minister has also reorganised the top brass of the police by changing the state's Director General of Police and Jaipur's Police Commissioner.