More And More Civil Servants Shun Bureaucracy To Join Politics

And this trend is sparking concerns about the erosion of bureaucratic neutrality, reigniting calls for a mandatory “cooling-off” period before civil servants can formally enter electoral politics.

Every time there is an election in India — be it for the Lok Sabha or various state Assemblies — the media is full of headlines about civil servants resigning and signalling their political aspirations. Bihar, currently gearing up for Assembly elections, is also witnessing this phenomenon. A string of officers has opted for the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), possibly paving the way for their entry into politics.

Bihar: Early Mover Again In The News

The latest among them is the 1991-batch IAS officer S Siddharth, the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of the state Education Department, who resigned from his post by submitting his VRS application on July 17. 

Siddharth was scheduled to retire in November 2025, but his early exit has ignited political speculation. Sources suggest he may contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, possibly from Nawada district. Reports also hint at the possibility of him getting a Janata Dal (United) ticket, although no official confirmation has been made so far.

Others taking the plunge in politics are six retired IAS officers who joined the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), which was recently floated by poll strategist Prashant Kishor. Out of the six — who have served on different posts in Bihar and elsewhere — two were from the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and four from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). 

They include Suresh Sharma of the 1985 BPSC batch from Gopalganj district, who retired in 2015 as Joint Secretary (Health). Then there is Lalan Singh Yadav of the 1981 UPSC batch from Munger district, who retired in 2017 as District Magistrate (DM) of Katihar and Nawada; and Ajay Kumar Dwivedi of the 1981 BPSC batch from West Champaran district, who served as Special Secretary before retiring in 2015.

Also in the group is Tulsi Hazra from East Champaran district, a 1981 batch BPSC officer who retired in 2014 as the Bettiah Raj DM; and Arvind Kumar Singh, former district magistrate of Purnea and Kaimur of 1981 batch officer (UPSC), who retired in 2016 as secretary. Gopal Narayan Singh from Aurangabad, of the 1983 BPSC batch, who last served as Deputy Secretary (Rural Works Department) and retired in 2014, also joined the JSP.

For all of the above, the liaison was former IPS officer Rakesh Kumar Mishra of the 1986 UPSC batch, who has been associated with JSP from its inception. Mishra, who had earlier served as the SP of Aurangabad, Kaimur, Bettiah and Nawada districts, had retired in 2020 as the state Director General (Home Guard). Another retired IPS officer, J P Singh of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, also joined JSP earlier this month.

Bihar is among the states where former government officials joining politics has a well-established precedent. Some household names with similar antecedents include 1975-batch IAS officer Raj Kumar Singh, who joined the BJP after retiring as the Union Home Secretary. He became an MP from Arrah and then a minister in the central government.

Then there is Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, a former UP cadre IAS officer who took VRS in 2010 and joined the JD(U). He rose to become the party’s national president and Union Minister of Steel. In late 2024, he launched his party, Aap Sabki Aawaz, which merged into the JSP in May 2025. 

A Deluge In The 2024 Lok Sabha Polls

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw high-profile entrants, like former ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, ex-IAS officer Parampal Kaur Sidhu, and ex-IPS officer K Annamalai actively contesting on party tickets across the political spectrum from different parts of the country.

Over the years in Odisha, V K Pandian, a former IAS officer from Tamil Nadu, became a close confidant of the supremo of the ruling BJD, Naveen Patnaik. Despite being criticised as an outsider, Pandian’s two-decade-long administrative career in Odisha, fluency in Odia, and marriage to a local were seen as positives as he joined the BJD, and played a key role in formulating its strategy for the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

Among other prominent names who joined the electoral fray in 2024 are Aparajita Sarangi, a former Odisha-cadre IAS officer who contested from Bhubaneswar on a BJP ticket; former Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik, who was fielded by the BJD from Puri; and former Assam-cadre IPS officer Anand Mishra, who contested as an Independent from Bihar’s Buxar. 

Behind The Appeal Of The Transition

The appeal of civil servants as electoral candidates for political parties is not difficult to understand. They bring with them decades of administrative experience, a deep understanding of policy implementation, and, often, a clean public image. For political parties, these qualities help project technocratic competence and credibility.

Many of those who take the plunge into politics claim that their move stems from a desire to serve the nation with fewer institutional restrictions. “In the services, we’re bound by rules and can’t express political opinions,” a bureaucrat-turned politician said. He was echoing Pandian, who had once said, “Politics offers greater flexibility to connect with people and bring about change.” 

For many former bureaucrats, politics is seen as a natural extension of public service — just one that allows for greater direct impact. But critics argue that not all transitions are altruistic.

Some bureaucrats allegedly develop political leanings while still in service, raising concerns of neutrality and integrity. This has led to calls for a mandatory “cooling-off” period before bureaucrats can contest elections or take up party positions. But is anyone listening?