Fierce lobbying among Executive Directors of Powergrid Corporation has resulted in outsiders being picked for the director jobs. Last week, the Public Enterprises Selection Board shortlisted A K Asthana from the Central Electricity Authority as Director (Operations) and A K Gulati from Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd as Director (Personnel). The reason: Most of the Powergrid employees appearing for the interview were either too junior or had a blemished record. The two who did meet the standards —- R N Nayak and R G Yadav —- were not selected as the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) had rejected them in February. Last year, Yadav was selected for Director (Operations) job with Nayak as the second choice. But hectic lobbying resulted in the ACC rejecting the panel despite both being competent internal candidates without adverse remarks on their CVs. The moral of the story: Monkey squabble gets you nuts.