The latest decision of retired IPS officer and former joint director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) V V Lakshminarayana, popularly known as JD, to quit politics and join Megha Engineering Company Ltd (MEIL) in a senior position has once again proved that politics is not everybody’s cup of tea.
Earlier, former IAS officer Dr Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), too, tried his luck with politics. He converted his social service organisation Lok Satta into a political party and contested elections in 2009.
He was the lone person to get elected to the assembly during the united Andhra Pradesh, but after the bifurcation of the state, he and his party lost their relevance. He could not sustain his party for long; and he quietly faded out of politics.
While Lok Satta has not been able to continue even as a social service platform, JP confined himself to occasional appearances on television debates and other public platforms, where nobody takes his views seriously.
The political trajectories of both these leaders have once again brought into focus a recurring question in Indian public life: why do accomplished bureaucrats often struggle to translate administrative credibility into political success?
Both individuals walked away from distinguished civil service careers with a clear service-oriented vision, seeking to bring systemic reforms and cleaner governance through electoral politics.
In administrative roles, they were widely respected for integrity, intellect, and commitment to public welfare — qualities that naturally raised public expectations about their potential political impact.
Yet, despite their credibility and reformist agendas, neither leader has been able to establish a strong electoral base or emerge as a decisive political force.
Their experiences underscore a fundamental reality — politics operates on a very different logic from bureaucracy or public administration.
“Politics is a different ballgame. It demands emotional resonance with voters, narrative-building, coalition management, and relentless grassroots engagement over long periods. Of course, present day politics is also about caste, cash and crookedness. A bureaucrat needs to follow these formulae to achieve success in politics as well,” an analyst said.