Former Odisha Cadre IAS Officer Manish Verma Close To Nitish Kumar Joins JD (U)

Patna: Former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Odisha cadre Manish Kumar Verma, a close aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Tuesday joined the JD(U).

The induction of Verma, a 2000 batch IAS officer who took voluntary retirement three years ago, took place with much fanfare at the JD(U) headquarters in Patna, in presence of senior leaders including the party’s working president and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha.

Verma was an Odisha cadre IAS officer of 2000 batch and served in different districts of the state as collector. An IIT Delhi alumnus, Verma came to Bihar on an inter-cadre deputation in 2012 and never went back.

Welcoming the ex-bureaucrat into the party, Jha said, “Our party is seriously thinking in terms of expanding its base beyond Bihar. We are sure that Verma’s rich administrative experience will be of great use to the JD(U).”

Speaking on the occasion, Verma, who belongs to Kumar’s home district of Nalanda, lavished praise on his benefactor, saying the longest serving CM of Bihar had an “extraordinary persona”, was an epitome of “true socialism” and stood out for delivering on promises, “a rarity among politicians”.

“I am grateful to Nitish Kumar ji that despite my being an officer on deputation, he gave me crucial assignments. I served as Patna DM and headed the state’s power companies. In 2021, my deputation period ended and I was required to go back to my cadre. But I chose to stay in Bihar and serve my motherland,” said Verma.

The former bureaucrat had thereafter served as an Additional Adviser to the Chief Minister and a member of the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority.

Although there was no word, so far, on the responsibility Verma would get in the JD(U) headed by Nitish Kumar, his entry has fuelled speculations in the party that is devoid of solid second-rung leadership.