A host of bureaucrats and a senior police officer who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a month before the 2018 assembly elections, resigned from the party on Wednesday. 

It was not immediately known what prompted them to resign en masse.

As per party sources, the resignation letter in which all of them signed has been sent to the BJP state president Vikram Usendi.

All these former senior government officials had joined the party with much fanfare in presence of BJP national president Amit Shah during his public meeting at Raipur before the state assembly poll, in which the party got the drubbing.

Among those resigned were former director general of police Rajiv Shrivastava and a former bureaucrat R C Sinha of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

Other prominent names are N K S Thakur, Vimal Chand Gupta, H K Dhagmwar, R K Tiwari, Banshilal Kurrey, R K Sharma, Bhojendra Uike, Pradeep Mishra, Shamsheer Khan, Ajit Choubey, Dr Hemu Yadu, Ghanshyam Sharma, Dr Neeta Sharma and Subhash Verma.

BJP state spokesperson Sanjay Shrivastava confirmed the resignation.

“In a democracy, the people have the liberty to shift their political alliance with changing times. The retired bureaucrats had joined the party thinking of getting some benefits if it comes to power but their dreams were smashed as party lost the assembly election. So, they might have decided to quit,” he said

“Many others, who had joined the party after resigning from their respective services, are still with the party and working with dedication,” he added.