It is 'netagiri' after 'babugiri' for Uttar Pradesh bureaucrats

Politics, it seems, is fast becoming the last refuge of bureaucrats in Uttar Pradesh. Police and administrative officers retiring from service are making a beeline to enter the world of politics like never before. With just an year to go before the UP Assembly polls, the surge has gained momentum.

The latest to make his mark on UP’s rather tumultuous political horizon is a retired officer of the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) Baba Hardev Singh who has recently been anointed as the state president of Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). As president of the UP PCS Officers’ Association, Singh perhaps had all the orientation for a career in politics.

Similarly, IAS officer Shrawan Kumar, who has just retired as divisional commissioner, Meerut, has joined the BSP and is all set to contest the next Assembly election from Noida, where he once served as district magistrate. His reason for joining the ruling party is simple: “The BSP’s ideology is quite similar to mine.” The officer is of the view that he would only be continuing the public service as a ‘neta’ which he was doing as an administrative officer.

IAS officer RK Singh, who has retired as Principal Secretary and joined the BSP, quotes similar reasons for his hop-over from bureaucracy to politics. However, he had an added advantage or incentive: His wife Omvati is a minister in the BSP government. Sources say the BSP has promised him an Assembly election ticket.

A retired bureaucrat not wanting to be named says it’s a pattern. “During service, the officer develops proximity to a particular political leader or party, and promptly joins that party post-retirement,” he says. “Perhaps, there is an overwhelming desire to feel the power before which they have kowtowed during their service,” he adds.

But, officers like chief engineer, UP PWD, T Ram, deny they get influenced by political bosses or grant them undue favours. Incidentally, Ram, serving on an extension, is tipped to be the BSP candidate from Mirzapur in the upcoming Assembly election.
The phenomenon of UP’s ‘burra sahibs’ getting into the rough and tumble of politics is not new. IAS officer PL Punia contested the 2007 Assembly election as a Congress candidate from Barabanki but lost.