Patna: Politics is turning out to be an ideal destination for bureaucrats in the twin states of Bihar and Jharkhand. More than a dozen bureaucrats are in the ticket race from various parties now that the dates of parliamentary elections have been announced by the Election Commission of India.
Some of them have even sought voluntary retirement from the prestigious civil services to try their luck in politics.
The latest to join the race is 1986-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) KP Ramaiah who joined the ruling Janata Dal (United) headed by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on March 3 after seeking voluntary retirement. Ramaiah who is likely to contest from Sasaram seat will take on Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, also a former bureaucrat, in the prestigious battle of ballots. “I will expose the Dalit politics of Ram Vilas Paswan and tell the masses how he has cared more about the welfare of his family than his community,” Ramaiah threatened.
Sasaram has been family constituency of Meira Kumar whose father Jagjivan Ram, a prominent Dalit leader, represented this seat eighth times in parliament from 1952 to 1984. Meira Kumar first contested the election in 2004 and won. Since then, she has been representing the seat.
Another prominent bureaucrat on the chart is former home secretary Raj Kumar Singh who joined the BJP last month. He is all set to be fielded from Ara LS seat. Curiously, it was Singh who had arrested the BJP patriarch LK Advani while he led the Somnath to Ayodhaya Rath yatra in 1990. Lalu Prasad was the chief minister of Bihar when Advani was arrested leading to the fall of VP Singh-led National Front government at the centre of which Lalu’s party was a part.
RS Pandey, former petroleum secretary, is likely to contest from Valmikinagar LS seat on BJP ticket whereas Ashish Ranjan Sinha, former director general of police in Bihar, could be the Congress candidate from Nalanda seat. Another serving 1992 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ajit Joy has sought voluntary retirement reportedly to contest for the Aam Aadmi Party from Thiruvanathapuram seat in Kerara.
The situation is no different in Jharkhand with 14 LS seats, where quite a good number of bureaucrats have opted for VRS to dabble into politics. Of them, one is senior IPS official Amitabh Chaudhary who joined former chief minister Babulal Marandi’s Jan Vikas Morcha (JVM) a couple of days back. He is likely to contest from Ranchi seat. Chaudhary had initially joined the BJP aiming to contest on its ticket but since he was denied ticket, he shifted to the Marandi party.
Another IPS officer Arun Oraon who took VRS a couple of days back is likely to contest Lohardaga seat on Congress seat. Arun is the husband of Jahrkhand Human Resources Development minister Gitashree Oraon. Yet another IPS officer Rameshwar Oraon too is lobbying hard to get party ticket to contest this seat. Senior IAS officer Vimal Kirti Singh from Jharkhand has taken VRS to try his luck in politics.
There are two other senior bureaucrats too who are set to be repeated as candidates from their respective parties. They include Yashwant Sinha and Dr Ajay Kumar who are parliamentarians from Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur seats respectively. Sinha is a BJP MP whereas Kumar represents JVM.
