10 IAS Officers Who Turned Into Politicians- Check Complete List!

Check List of 10 IAS officers who became politicians later in their lives. Some of them quit their jobs for the same and some chose the path to become people's representative in the latter part of their lives.

Tulika Tandon Updated: Jan 11, 2022 15:04 IST

IAS Officers who became Politicians

Civil Service is a dream of many Indians and a bigger dream is becoming a people's representative. What if one has it both? Can it happen at the same time? No! But can it happen at all? The answer is Yes!

Here is a list of 10 IAS officers who became politicians later in their lives. Some of them quit their jobs for the same and some chose the path to become people's representative in the latter part of their lives.

List of IAS Officers Who Became Politicians

Ajit Jogi: Ajit Jogi was a 1968 batch IAS officer who joined the Congress party after quitting his job. He was prodded by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Jogi went on to become the chief minister of Chhattisgarh. Once a Gandhi family loyalist, he faced charges of corruption and criminal cases. He finally quit the party and formed his own party called Chhattisgarh Janata Congress.

Mani Shankar Aiyar: Mani Shankar Aiyar was born in Lahore. He joined the Indian Foreign Services in 1963. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mayiladuturai, Tamil Nadu, in 1991. Since then he served in many portfolios.

Yashwant Sinha: A popular name and the first Finance Minister in Chandra Shekhar’s union cabinet, Yashwant Sinha was the first IAS officer who joined the Government in 1960. He remained an officer till 1984 and joined the Janata Dal before switching to BJP. In 2018, he quit the BJP as a result of differences with the current party leadership. His son Jayant Sinha is the minister of state for civil aviation.

Meira Kumar: Meira Kumar was the first Lok Sabha Speaker from 2009 to 2014. She was the daughter of Jagjivan Ram. He served as the fourth Deputy Prime Minister of India. Meira Kumar joined Civil Services in 1973 and served as an IFS officer for more than a decade. She arrived in politics with a bang in 1985 by defeating Ram Vilas Paswan and Mayawati in the Bijnor by-election.

Natwar Singh: He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1953 and worked as an IFS officer for 31 years. He was posted in important embassies such as China and the US. In 1984, he left the IFS and joined the Congress. He was elected in the eighth Lok Sabha from Bharatpur, Rajasthan. The same year, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. He also served as the minister of external affairs in Manmohan Singh’s UPA government.

Arvind Kejriwal: He was an IITian, a mechanical engineer. He joined the Indian Revenue Services. Years later he became a campaigner for Indians for Right to Information and also won Ramon Magsaysay award for Emergent Leadership in 2006. He became the face of the Jan Lokpal movement in 2011. He launched Aam Aadmi Party in 2012. The party emerged as the second-largest party in the Delhi Assembly elections in 2013. He is the Chief Minister of Delhi ever since 2013.

Hardeep Singh Puri: Hardeep Singh Puri is currently minister of state for housing and urban affairs. Puri joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974 and he served as an ambassador to the UK and Brazil. He was also India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva as well as in New York. He also served as chairman of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee in 2011-2012.

Raj Kumar Singh: He was a former Bihar-cadre IAS officer of the 1975 batch who served as union home secretary. He was the district magistrate of Samastipur in 1990. He joined BJP in 2013 and is currently the minister of state for power and new & renewable energy.

Satyapal Singh: He is a former Indian Police Service, IPS Officer of the 1980 batch of Maharashtra cadre. He also served as the police commissioner of Mumbai and played role in eliminating crime in Mumbai in the 1990s. In 2014, he resigned as the Mumbai Police chief and joined the BJP. He contested and won the Baghpat seat in the 2014 general elections, and was a minister of state for human resource development.

Alphons Kannanthanam: Alphons Kannanthanam hails from the Kottayam district of Kerala, is a retired IAS officer of the 1979 batch. He was elected as an Independent MLA from Kanjirappally in Kottayam that year, with the backing of the Left Democratic Front. He joined the BJP in 2011 and six years later, became a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan.

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