Gujarat cadre IAS officer A K Sharma to join BJP in UP after taking voluntary retirement

The 1988 batch officer from Mau district in Uttar Pradesh is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had worked with him in Gujarat

Former IAS officer Arvind Kumar Sharma, who was considered to be close to prime minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday joined BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

Sharma, a Gujarat cadre IAS officer, was a secretary in the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) at the Centre, took voluntary retirement about a week ago.

Sharma, who hailed from Uttar Pradesh's Mau district, about 350 kilometres from Lucknow, had served with Modi, when the latter was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was later shifted to the Centre when Modi became prime minister in 2014.

The former bureaucrat, who joined the saffron party in the presence of UP BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh and UP deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, is likely to be fielded by the BJP in the forthcoming polls for the state legislative council.

The council polls were slated to be held on January 28 and the BJP was currently busy in finalising the list of its nominees.

''I come from rural background.....I am ready to undertake any responsibility the party gives me,'' he said.

According to the sources in BJP's state unit, Sharma was also likely to be inducted in the state Cabinet though the state party leaders remained tightlipped when queried in this regard.

Speculations were rife that Sharma might also be made deputy chief minister. ''Sharma has a long experience of working in different departments....he has been a very capable officer....whether he is fielded in the council polls and inducted in the cabinet is something which can be decided by the party leadership only,'' remarked a senior UP BJP leader.