M.G.V.K. Bhanu, a retired IAS officer who was the secretary of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, joined the Congress in Assam on Monday.
He is likely to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Tezpur, the area he had served in his initial days as a Deputy Commissioner.
A 1985-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Mr. Bhanu retired on July 31 as an Additional Chief Secretary. He had earlier served as Director in the Union Tourism Ministry, and Chairman of Tea Board of India.
“I had made up my mind to join politics after my retirement. Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s honesty, sincerity and straightforward nature attracted me to the party,” Mr. Bhanu told The Hindu after joining the Congress along with 10 others at the party’s State unit HQ in Guwahati.