LUCKNOW: Gujarat cadre IAS officer A.K Sharma, who recently took voluntary retirement from service, will be joining the BJP here soon, a party spokesperson said on Thursday.

The 1988 batch officer from Mau district in Uttar Pradesh is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had worked with him in Gujarat.

He has expressed his desire to work for the party and will be joining the party, BJP spokesperson Chandra Mohan said on Thursday.

Sharma joins the BJP at a time the party is finalising candidates for elections to the 12 seats of the Legislative Council on January 28.

The last date for filing of nominations is January 18.

Asked if Sharma could be made a candidate by the party, Chandra  Mohan said the names are decided by the central leadership.