In the race for the top post along with Saunik was his batch mate and wife Sujata Saunik, which was reported by HT in a story titled, ‘Saunik vs Saunik: Who will be the next chief secretary of the state?’ on March 24. Sujata Saunik is ACS, general administration department. The third contender for the post was Nitin Kareer, additional chief secretary (revenue).