Arvind Kumar Sharma
IAS, Gujarat cadre, 1988 batch
Cabinet Minister (Urban Development, Energy), Government of Uttar Pradesh (since 25 Mar 2022); MLC
Summary
Fast move from a serving Secretary to party member (3 days after VRS) and state minister (14 months). By his own account (HT, 2025), the Prime Minister told him in December 2020, while he was MSME Secretary, to prepare to move to UP for the Legislative Council polls. No rule breach is documented in the sources.
This entry is Arvind Kumar Sharma, IAS (Gujarat, 1988), now a UP minister. He is not A.K. Sharma, IPS, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch Joint Commissioner who was questioned with G.C. Murmu by the CBI in the Ishrat Jahan case on 21 Sep 2013 (IE, 22 Sep 2013). Nor is he Arun Kumar Sharma, 1987-batch Gujarat IPS, CBI Joint Director from 2015 until his tenure was curtailed in Jan 2019 (TOI, Apr 2016; HT, Jan 2019). Whether those two IPS references are one person was not checked; nothing about either belongs in this entry.
By the numbers
3 days from voluntary retirement to party membership
11 Jan to 14 Jan 2021. indianexpress.com
14 months from voluntary retirement to state minister
Jan 2021 to Mar 2022. indianexpress.com
18 months of service given up
VRS Jan 2021, superannuation due Jul 2022. indianexpress.com
The rise, step by step
Each step is solid where two sources carry it, a hairline where one does.
One report
Joins IAS, Gujarat cadre.
Documented
Serves in the Gujarat Chief Minister's Office under Narendra Modi from October 2001 (rising to additional principal secretary), then in the PMO from 2014 as joint secretary and later additional secretary, until April 2020 (about 20 years working with Modi, per the Indian Express).
One report
Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
One report
Takes voluntary retirement, more than a year before his July 2022 superannuation.
One report
Joins the BJP in Lucknow in the presence of state president Swatantra Dev Singh and Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma.
Documented
Nominated by the BJP for the UP Legislative Council on 15 Jan 2021 and elected unopposed on 21 Jan 2021.
One report
Made UP BJP vice-president.
Documented
Sworn in as a cabinet minister in the second Yogi Adityanath government (25 Mar 2022); given urban development and energy portfolios on 28 Mar 2022.
One report
By his own account (HT interview, Sep 2025), while MSME Secretary he received a call from the Prime Minister: "Sharmaji, UP jaane ki taiyari kijiye. Wahan kuch MLC ki seats khali ho rahi hain." (Be ready to move to UP, where some MLC seats are falling vacant.) He said that a few days later the PM called daily for nearly a week to guide him on filing the nomination papers.
The other side
- Arvind Kumar Sharma (Jan 2021)
- Thanked PM Modi and described himself as a 'son of the soil from a backward village of Mau'. indianexpress.com
- Arvind Kumar Sharma (HT interview, 2025)
- Called Modi his 'political guru' whom he turns to for guidance. hindustantimes.com
Sources
- indianexpress.com
- hindustantimes.com
- pib.gov.in
- indianexpress.com
- deccanherald.com
- business-standard.com
- indianexpress.com
- indiatoday.in
These are documented facts placed side by side. Nothing here asserts or implies wrongdoing by any officer. Acquittals, dismissed petitions and clean chits are recorded alongside adverse findings. Every source was opened and checked on Oct 2026.
Photo: 55gaurav555, CC BY-SA 4.0