Bureaucrats, their sons and daughters take a plunge into UP’s dusty politics

SP's new icon Abhishek Mishra

TILL yesterday, Jai Shanker Mishra would have passed as yet another IAS officer serving as CEO in Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). But not anymore. This 1980 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS has added one more identity. He is father of Abhishek Mishra, who dared to quit a faculty position at IIM-Ahmedabad to join Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party. In the fiercely fought UP elections, Abhishek Mishra emerged as the winner defeating his nearest Congress rival in prestigious Lucknow (North) seat. If Akhilesh Yadav is new poster boy of Indian politics, MIT product Abhishek is also an inspiration for sons and daughters of top bureaucrats not just to prepare for IIM or UPSC but to take a plunge into dusty world of politics. The son of a babu has become a neta.
In neighbouring Lucknow (East) seat, daughter of former UP chief secretary Akhand Pratap Singh took a similar risk, but she is not as lucky as Abhishek Mishra. Juhie Singh, also from Samajwadi Party, gave a tough fight to BJP heavyweight Kalraj Mishra but did not succeed.

Juhie Singh: Down But Not Out

And it’s not just Samajwadi Party which mobilized sons and daughters of bureaucrats to lead from the front. Former UP DGP Yashpal Singh’s son Yashraj fought elections from Gonda in UP on a Peace Party ticket. He lost. The Peace Party which became a news-maker for snatching prestigious seats like Rae Bareli, did a wonderful branding exercise by welcoming former bureaucrats into its fold.
Peace Party’s vice-president Rama Shanker Singh is a former IAS. Ex-DGP Yashpal Singh and ex-IPS IP Singh are Peace Party’s prominent faces.
Congress MP PL Punia, a 1971 batch former IAS, is already an inspiration for UP bureaucrats to game for real politics.

Action and Appointments

a) The Central deputation tenure of Meena Agarwal, a joint secretary in the department of expenditure in finance ministry, has been extended for three months till June 6, 2012. Mrs Agarwal is a 1981 batch IRAS officer and wife of OP Agarwal, a 1979 batch ex-IAS, now in a senior position at World Bank.
b) Ratan P Watal, a 1978 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS, will continue as secretary in Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board for three months beyond March 2, 2012.