While ministers and political leaders come and go with elections, police officers and bureaucrats, the men and women who make up the country’s “steel frame”, manage governance and public welfare, law and order, and represent the continuity in power.
In Bihar, the political landscape is seeing a trend of former bureaucrats and police officers contesting polls, with a party such as Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj, which is contesting its debut elections, actively fielding them.
From seasoned ex-IPS officers to a former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) official, at least seven retired civil servants are contesting the Assembly elections, bringing with them decades of administrative experience, technical expertise, and local familiarity. Some of the notable names are:
Rakesh Kumar Mishra (Jan Suraaj candidate, Darbhanga)
Rakesh Kumar Mishra, 64, is a 1986-batch Bihar cadre IPS officer from Saharsa. An IIT-BHU gold medallist in civil engineering, he served for more than three decades, including as Bhagalpur ASP during the 1989 riots and later as Additional Director General (ADG) of Bihar Police, Director General (DG) of the Home Defence Battalion, and Fire Services in Bihar Police. He also held senior central positions in CRPF, CISF, and ITBP and earned the President’s Police Medal.
After retiring, he joined the Jan Suraaj as one of its founding members. He is contesting from Darbhanga, a seat held by the BJP’s Sanjay Saraogi since 2005. The Opposition Mahagathbandhan’s candidate is Umesh Sahani, the vice president of Vikaasheel Insaan Party (VIP).
Anand Mishra (BJP, Buxar)
Mishra, 44, hails from Jigna in Buxar district, with family roots in Bhojpur. A 2011-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IPS officer, he holds a postgraduate degree in Police Management from Osmania University (2022). Before joining IPS, he also initially served in the West Bengal Civil Service from 2005 to 2010 before clearing UPSC.
During his posting as SP in Assam, Mishra was known as an “encounter specialist” for his actions against insurgents and drug cartels. He earned multiple state gallantry awards, including the Police Medal for Gallantry (President’s Medal) and the Chief Minister’s Medal for Outstanding Services (Government of Assam).
Anand Mishra took voluntary retirement in January 2024, contested the Lok Sabha elections that year as an Independent from Buxar, before joining Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj as Youth President. (Photo: Facebook)
Mishra took voluntary retirement in January 2024, contested the Lok Sabha elections that year as an Independent from Buxar, before joining Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj as Youth President. This August, he switched to the BJP.
He is contesting from Buxar against Congress MLA Sanjay Kumar Tiwari, a two-term incumbent who won in 2020 by 3,892 votes. Jan Suraaj has fielded Tathagat Harsh Vardhan, the son of former Union Minister Prof K K Tiwari.
Sunil Kumar (JD-U candidate, Bhore)
Sunil Kumar, a 1987-batch Bihar cadre IPS officer, is the incumbent MLA from the SC-reserved seat and a Cabinet Minister in the Nitish Kumar government.
The 65-year-old is from a politically prominent family. His father Chandrika Ram was a senior Congress minister and one brother, Anil Kumar, also served as the Bhore MLA. Another brother, Ajit Kumar, is an IFS officer.
A history graduate from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, Sunil served 33 years in the Bihar Police, including as SSP of Patna (1997–2003) and SP of Gaya and Bhojpur.
After taking voluntary retirement as DG (Buildings) in July 2020, Sunil Kumar joined the JD(U) 29 days later. (Photo: X)
After taking voluntary retirement as DG (Buildings) in July 2020, he joined the JD(U) 29 days later. In 2020, Sunil won Bhore by 462 votes over CPI(M-L) Liberation’s Jitendra Paswan. This year, the CPI (M-L) L initially nominated Paswan again, but after his nomination was cancelled, the party fielded JNU Student Union’s former president Dhananjay. Jan Suraaj has nominated Priti Kinar, the only transgender candidate in this election.
Jai Prakash Singh (Jan Suraaj, Chapra)
J P Singh, a 2000-batch IPS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, is from Saran district. He holds a Master’s degree in Police Management from Osmania University (2020) and had a brief Army commission before joining the IPS.
Over a 23-year career, the 58-year-old served as an SP in sensitive districts, including Chamba, Sirmaur, and Kangra, later rising to ADGP and heading Himachal’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
He took voluntary this July and joined the Jan Suraaj. He is contesting from Chapra, a BJP stronghold, that was won by Dr C N Gupta of the BJP in 2015 and 2020. This election, the BJP has fielded Chhoti Kumari, a former district legislative council chairperson, while the RJD has nominated Bhojpuri star Shatrughan Yadav, popularly known as Khesari Lal Yadav.
Jai Prakash Singh took voluntary this July and joined the Jan Suraaj. (Photo: Facebook)
B K Ravi (Congress, Rosera)
Braj Kishore Ravi is a 1989-batch IPS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, originally from Saharsa district in Bihar.
A Sociology postgraduate from Delhi University (1987), the 61-year-old served in the Tamil Nadu Police for 33 years, including as Director General of Vigilance at TANGEDCO and Head of Fire and Rescue Services. Ravi also served on a UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1998–99), receiving the UN Peacekeeping Medal twice. He also held senior central postings in the CISF, the CRPF, and the ITBP.
Coming from a family of freedom fighters associated with the Congress in the state, Ravi took voluntary retirement in late 2023 and joined the Congress two months later. He is contesting from Rosera (SC-reserved seat) in Samastipur, where the BJP’s incumbent MLA Birendra Kumar Paswan is his main opponent.
Sujit Kumar Singh (BJP, Gaura Bauram)
Sujit Kumar Singh, 54, is a 2001-batch IRS officer with an MPhil from JNU (1997) who rose to Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) in Delhi. After voluntary retirement last month, he promptly joined the BJP and is contesting from his home constituency of Gaura Bauram in Darbhanga, a seat currently held by his wife Swarna Singh.
Swarna contested on VIP‘s ticket in 2020 and won against RJD’s Afzal Ali Khan by 7,280 votes. She later defected to the BJP. The RJD has repeated Afzal Ali Khan against Sujit, whose father Sunil Kumar Singh was a BJP MLC who passed away in 2020 during the Covid-19 crisis.
Shivdeep Wamanrao Lande (Independent, Jamalpur & Araria)
Shivdeep Wamanrao Lande, 49, originally from Akola, Maharashtra, is a 2006-batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre. A 1998 graduate in Electrical Engineering from SSGM College of Engineering, Shegaon (Amaravati University), he initially got selected for the IRS before clearing the UPSC again to join the IPS. Lande served as SP in Munger, Araria, and Patna, later rising to DIG Tirhut Range and IG Purnia. Known as one of Bihar’s “supercop”, he earned public recognition for aggressive anti-crime and anti-drug operations.
Lande voluntarily retired in September 2024 and launched his own political outfit, the Hindu Sena, this April. He is contesting as an independent from Jamalpur and Araria. In Jamalpur, he faces the Congress’s incumbent MLA, Ajay Kumar Singh, JD(U)’s newcomer Nachiketa, and Jan Suraaj’s Lalan Jee. In Araria, his main rival is Congress’s two-term legislator Abidur Rahman, alongside JD(U)’s repeat candidate Shagufta Azim and Jan Suraaj’s Farhat Ara Begum.
Lande is the son-in-law of Vijay Shivtare, senior leader of the Shiv Sena and former Maharashtra minister. Except for Araria, which will vote in the second phase on November 11, all constituencies went to the polls on Thursday.