Senior IAS officer and principal secretary in the Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s office Praveen Prakash, who is considered to be the favourite officer of chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, is likely to call it quits to his government service and enter politics soon.
According to speculations doing rounds in media circles, Praveen Prakash, a 1994-batch IAS officer of Andhra cadre, is contemplating contesting the forthcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, his native state, scheduled to be held in the first quarter of 2022.
He is learnt to have decided to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, as he has good relations with several BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh.
During his stint as resident commissioner of Andhra Pradesh Bhavan and other positions in New Delhi in the past, Praveen Prakash had developed a lot of contacts with the top BJP leadership.
Present Union minister Ashwini Vaishnav, too, happens to be a batch-mate of Praveen Prakash in the civil service and is playing a key role in bringing the latter into the BJP.
It is learnt the BJP leadership has given him green signal to join the party and contest the elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Apparently, he is lobbying for the assembly ticket from Varanasi, which is also his native town, where his family wields a lot of influence.
In fact, Praveen Prakash worked as Joint Secretary in the Union ministry of Urban Development and also Mission Director of Swachh Bharat Mission, the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi in the past.
He has established connections with various NGOs, youth organisations and local people extensively.
His father was also an officer in the Varanasi thermal power project and has wide contacts in the constituency.
That is why Praveen Prakash is said to be lobbying for the BJP ticket in Varanasi assembly constituency, which is part of the Prime Minister’s parliamentary constituency as well.
However, Varanasi is represented by sitting BJP member Saurabh Srivastav, who is also a strong leader in the constituency.
So, it is doubtful whether the BJP leadership would ignore him and give the ticket to Praveen Prakash. In such a case, the IAS officer will have to look for another favourable seat.
It is learnt Praveen Prakash has intimated his plans to Jagan Mohan Reddy as well and got the green signal.
It remains to be seen how far these speculations turn out to be true.
