Silchar, Nov. 11: For the majority of bureaucrats in Mizoram, there are no retirement blues. It is simply goodbye government service, hello public life.

Several retired bureaucrats have decided to contest Assembly seats in the November 20 poll, continuing a tradition that seems to be unique to the tiny tribal state. There are two former chief secretaries, Lalkhama and Lalfakzuala, in the fray.

The debonair Lalkhama, an IAS officer of the 1963 cadre, cut his teeth in politics immediately after retiring from service in 1993. He contested the poll as a candidate of the Mizo National Front (MNF) party in Aizawl West 1 constituency and, to the surprise of his detractors, romped to victory. The former bureaucrat later switched allegiance to the Congress, only to lose the 1998 election to the North Venlaiphai seat. He will contest the same seat this time, again on a Congress ticket.

His former IAS colleague from the Maharashtra cadre, Lalfakzuala, has opted to compete for the Aizawl West 2 seat on a Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC) ticket. His main rival is Lalrinchhana, a politician with clout and a minister in the Zoramthanga government.

K. Thangzuala, a civil engineer who joined the political rat race after retiring as the chief engineer of the public works department, had humbled Congress stalwart and former chief minister Lalthanhawla in Serchip constituency in the last election.

He has been denied an MNF ticket this time and is vying for the Aizawl North 2 seat as an Independent. His rival is another former IAS officer, Liansailova. The ex-member of the Mizoram Public Service Commission has been given a Congress ticket.

Former IPS officer Lalduhawma, who was former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s security officer, has since reinvented himself as the president of the nascent Zoram Nationalist Party and decided to take on Lalthanmawia, a former deputy commissioner of Aizawl and the MPC nominee for the Aizawl North 1 seat. The other former government officers in the fray are Clement Lalrema, a retired engineer of the Mizoram State Electricity Board, and B. Thangdailova, who was the director of health services before answering the call of politics. Lalrema has chosen to compete for the Ngopa seat, while debutant Thangdailova is a nominee for the Khwbung seat.

Liansuma, a former Mizoram Civil Service officer, rounds off the list. He is a contender for the Phuldengsei seat. According to the election office, as many as 20 retired bureaucrats, police officials and engineers are in the poll race.