BJP appoints former IAS officer AK Sharma as vice president of Uttar Pradesh unit

Arvind Kumar Sharma joined the BJP in January, just days after taking voluntary retirement from service.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday appointed former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Arvind Kumar Sharma, who joined the party in January, as a vice president of its Uttar Pradesh unit, just months before the state is likely to go to polls in early 2022.

Former IAS officer Arvind Kumar Sharma joining the BJP at party office in Lucknow on January 14.

The appointment of Sharma, a former Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, as the vice president of the UP BJP comes in the backdrop of recent rumours he could be inducted as a minister in the state government in the event of a cabinet reshuffle ahead of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath last week met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda in Delhi, triggering rumours that a cabinet reshuffle was on the cards.

The Adityanath government’s handling of the devastating second wave of Covid-19 is likely to be a major factor in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Earlier this month, BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Radha Mohan Singh visited state capital Lucknow to take feedback on the government's handling of the pandemic.

Sharma, who is considered as a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was inducted in the BJP just days after he took voluntary retirement from service. He was fielded as a candidate for the legislative council polls, in which he was victorious, thus becoming a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC).