Ex-PMO official AK Sharma appointed UP BJP vice president ahead of polls

Sharma was born in Mau district of UP, in 1962

Amid speculations of retired IAS officer AK Sharma's inclusion in the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed him as the vice president of party's state unit.

A statement issued by the Uttar Pradesh BJP on June 19 confirmed the appointment of Sharma, a former joint secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), as party's vice chief in the poll-bound state.

Sharma, 59, has been a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since his days as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, dating back to 2001. He was inducted into the PMO as a joint secretary in 2014, when Modi became the prime minister.

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Sharma took the political plunge January this year, after he took voluntary retirement from service and formally joined the BJP. Days later, the saffron party nominated him as a member of the UP legislative council.

Reports over the past month had claimed that the BJP central leadership was in favour of including Sharma in the Yogi Adityanath-led government as a minister. Speculations of a Centre-state rift had also gained momentum, after reports citing sources claimed that the chief minister is not keen on including Sharma in the government.

However, sources in Lucknow told Moneycontrol that there was no demand raised by the Centre to induct Sharma into the UP Cabinet. "Sharma was made an MLC. All positions from UP— be it Rajya Sabha nominations or senior positions in the UP Cabinet—there has never been any conflict between the views of the Centre and the UP government," sources said.

The appointment of Sharma as UP BJP vice president also comes a week after Yogi Adityanath came to Delhi, and held deliberations with party chief JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and PM Modi.