Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trusted bureaucrat AK Sharma, who took voluntary retirement as MSME secretary on Monday, joined BJP in Lucknow within 96 hours. The party has now fielded the former IAS officer in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections. Sharma had applied for voluntary retirement a week ago. It was being speculated ever since the resignation of the 1988 batch IAS officer was approved on Monday that he might be one of the BJP candidates in the Vidhan Parishad polls in the state.