Another bureaucrat from the saffron camp is preparing to beat the Lok Sabha elections

Nowadays a common discussion is being heard in the bureaucracy of Uttar Pradesh. The buzz is that soon a nominated and famous bureaucrat of UP cadre who is going to retire in a few months, may soon start his second ‘inning’ in the field of politics. This is the same officer who got the Lucknow-Agra Expressway ready in just two and a half years during the Akhilesh government on a behest of SP chief Mulayam Singh, on which even fighter planes like Jaguar were able to land. This same bureaucrat, being the Chief Secretary of the Khadi Department during the Corona period, had become Yogi’s confidant by converting the ambitious plan of making half a million Khadi masks into reality, while considering this bureaucrat as close to the SP, Chief Minister Yogi had earlier He was put on the margins and was assigned a less important department like the Khadi department. It was because of this bureaucrat who prepared Khadi’s protective cover (mask) in the war against Corona that UP became the first state to test Covid-19 with rapid testing kit during this period.

Not only Yogi, but during the SP-BSP and the previous BJP government, this bureaucrat’s coin was used a lot. In the Kalyan Singh government, this bureaucrat was entrusted with the responsibility of an important district like Faizabad. During this, this officer came very close to the sages and saints associated with Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. This officer was DM in an important district like Lucknow. When the BSP government was formed in 2007, five IAS returned to UP from the center, one of which was the name of this officer. This officer collects headlines not because of his name, but because of his work. The government may be of any party, it is found doing its work with full honesty. It is even said about this officer, “Jahan rahega wahi roshni lutayega, kisi charag ka apna makan nahi hota.” This officer is none other than Punjab-born and 1988 batch UP cadre officer Navneet Sehgal, who He is going to retire after a month on July 31, 2023. Sehgal does not see any possibility of getting service extension, this is because Sehgal also wants to leave ‘bureaucracy’ and taste the ‘kingdom’.

It is being said about IAS Navneet Sehgal that after his retirement from bureaucracy, he too may turn saffron like some other bureaucrats. There is strength in this talk or discussion because for the last few years it is being seen that the BJP high command is taking advantage of their experience by bringing former bureaucrats into the politics of the Center and the States to run their Central and State Governments. Is.

The names of many bureaucrats can be counted in this episode. By the way, bureaucrats’ love for politics is not new. It started about 70 years ago when Faizabad District Magistrate KKK Nair (ICS now called IAS) joined Jansangh after his retirement. Recently, as soon as the 2022 assembly elections were announced, Kanpur commissioner Aseem Arun applied for VRS, while the VRS application of Enforcement Directorate Joint Director Rajeshwar Singh was also accepted. Now both are MLAs and ministers from BJP.

Talking about the past, in 1967 Shrish Chandra Dixit, who was an IPS, became a Lok Sabha MP from Bahraich on a Jansangh ticket, first joined the BJP and later joined the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). BJP sent BP Singhal, brother of VHP leader Ashok Singhal, who was an IPS, to the Rajya Sabha. Apart from this, Mahendra Singh Yadav, IPS husband of Neera Yadav, a very close officer of Samajwadi Party, also joined BJP.

The names of many former bureaucrats have been included in this list, in which Arvind Sharma i.e. AK Sharma is no less special, who has been an IAS of Gujarat cadre. He is handling the responsibility of an important department like urban development in the second term of the Yogi government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s favorite bureaucrat Arvind Kumar Sharma suddenly appeared in Uttar Pradesh about four years ago at the time of the Legislative Council elections. Took VRS from Chat, joined BJP from Pat and became Honorable Member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council unopposed from Legislative Council ticket the very next day. Arvind Kumar Sharma is a resident of Kazakhurd village of Mau. Sharma could not do anything for Mau by staying in the Gujarat cadre, Chief Minister’s Office and Prime Minister’s Office at the Center. Now after becoming a minister, he has to be tested in the new innings. Because the top leadership has not brought him to the state just by getting him voluntary retirement. In future politics, he is trying to set the agenda of development along with the agenda of Hindutva. It may be noted that on Arvindra Kumar Sharma joining the BJP, the then Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu had raised the question that ‘Sharma should be told whether he was still doing government service or was engaged in the service of a party’.

The political love of bureaucrats for Uttar Pradesh was visible years ago. It started with KKK Sharma seven decades ago. Probably the first incident in the state after independence would have been when KKK Nair, District Magistrate of Faizabad joined the Jana Sangh in 1952 after being relieved from service after ICS suspension and reinstatement after the idol was placed in the Babri Masjid in December 1949 in Ayodhya. His wife had reached the Lok Sabha by electing an MP from the neighboring district on a Hindu Mahasabha ticket. Nair himself was defeated in the first attempt but his wife and his driver won the election. Nair reached the Lok Sabha from Bahraich in 1967 on a Jana Sangh ticket. Similarly, after the suspension and dismissal of the then SSP IPS Devendra Bahadur Rai (DB Rai) on charges of demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992, he was elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Sultanpur, a neighboring district of Faizabad, on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket in the very next election. Were.

Similarly, Srichandra Dixit was an IPS officer and SP of Faizabad and Director General of Police (1984). Dikshit joined the BJP in the eighties. Became the vice-president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and played a major role in getting the kar sevaks to the disputed premises in 1990 during the Ram Mandir movement. He was elected MP from Varanasi from BJP. This seat was won by the BJP for the first time. BP Singhal, brother of former IPS and VHP leader Ashok Singhal, was also sent to Rajya Sabha after joining BJP. Mahendra Singh Yadav, husband of Neera Yadav, who was the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government, joined the BJP after taking voluntary retirement from the IPS and became an MLA. During the Mayawati government, his favorite officers were PL Poonia IAS and Brijlal IPS. While Poonia remained the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Brijlal retired from the post of Director General of Police. Surprisingly, Poonia went to the shelter of Congress and became a Member of Parliament by getting a Lok Sabha ticket from Barabanki by becoming a Dalit face and Brijlal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and was made the chairman of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes Commission. Later the party sent him to the Rajya Sabha. Devi Dayal, an IAS officer, joined the Congress after retirement and contested the Lok Sabha elections but could not reach the Lok Sabha. There has also been a sizeable number of people joining the Congress. Rajbahadur, who was an IAS, Omprakash retired and joined the Congress. Anis Ansari, an IAS officer who was an APC, also joined the Congress after retirement.

On the other hand, Ahmed Hasan, who was an IPS officer, took the path of the Samajwadi Party after retiring and joined it. He was a minister in the governments of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav. Member of Legislative Council and also played the role of Leader of Opposition in the Council. Shyam Singh Yadav, who was a PCS officer, resigned at the last moment of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 and became a Lok Sabha MP after getting the Lok Sabha ticket as soon as he joined the Bahujan Samaj Party. Tribhuvan Ram (Tiram), a former technical service officer who retired as chief engineer of the PWD, joined the BSP and became an MLA. Later went to the shelter of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Bureaucrats including SK Verma, RP Shukla and Baba Hardev joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal after retirement. Some formed their own separate party. Former IAS officer Chandrapal formed his Adarsh ​​Samaj Party and former PCS Tapendra Prasad formed Samyak Party. Both could not do much politics.

However, officers also have their own arguments for this love of politics. They say that if people from different walks of life can enter politics then why not bureaucrats? While in service, they are concerned only with the public and they join jobs only to serve. If they want to serve again after coming into politics after retirement then what is wrong. Who to say about bureaucrats, now even judges want to retire and reach Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was nominated by the President to the Rajya Sabha as soon as he retired without joining any party. While Justice Ranganath Mishra after spending a long time joined the Congress and became a Rajya Sabha MP. There is another reason why bureaucrats enter politics, they consider themselves to be higher than politicians. They definitely have the experience of long innings of service, but the truth is that till now even the bureaucrats who came into politics after government service, could not bring any radical change in politics.

The bottom line is that if seen the biggest reason for bureaucrats coming to BJP, then their top leadership has faith in bureaucracy. Whenever the government of BJP or its coalition comes, there is definitely an allegation on their government that the government is being run by bureaucrats. Even now, whether it is the central government or the Uttar Pradesh government, there has been a constant allegation that some bureaucrats ignore even the party leaders and there is more interference in the government. In such a situation, the relations that are formed between the bureaucrats and the top leadership of the party, later turn into political relations. However, the parachute landing of bureaucrats affects the organization and the workers, because the one who has worked as an officer for 60 years, cannot work easily among the public and workers like other leaders, for which the organization has to work hard. .

-Ajay Kumar