Nisha Bangre gives up Deputy Collector post, misses election ticket

A single decision changed the course of Nisha Bangre’s life. She left the government job she had worked hard to secure and entered politics with the hope of becoming the voice of people whose problems do not reach the corridors of power. But the political journey did not move as she had expected. The process of accepting her resignation took time, the opportunity to contest the election passed, and she did not receive a ticket from the party.

Today, Nisha Bangre is neither an MLA nor a Deputy Collector. The administrative post for which thousands of young people dream, and which she had reached after clearing competitive examinations, is now behind her. The political dream for which she gave up that post also remains incomplete.

Looking back at her journey, Nisha says, “My life has gone back ten years. Now I do not understand how to start it again.”

Nisha Bangre is from Betul in Madhya Pradesh, while her birth and early education took place in Balaghat. Education was always given importance in her family. After completing her engineering studies, she began preparing for the MPPSC examination.

She was selected for the DSP post in the 2016 examination. After that, she appeared for the examination again and became a Deputy Collector. In this way, she first entered government service as a DSP and later reached the position of Deputy Collector.

During her time in administrative service, Nisha remained in regular contact with ordinary people. She closely saw the problems faced by women, disadvantaged sections and common citizens. Over time, a thought became stronger in her mind: while working in an administrative post, there is a limit to the extent of change one can bring. Through politics, she believed, the problems and demands of people could be raised on a much larger platform.

According to Nisha, people who came in contact with her encouraged her to contest elections. They told her to enter electoral politics. She began to feel that if she reached the Legislative Assembly, she would be able to raise directly in the House the issues with which ordinary people were struggling.

It was with this belief that she resigned from the post of Deputy Collector. For her, leaving the government job was not simply a decision to give up a secure career. It was an attempt to begin a new public life and work for people at a wider level.

However, the first stage of the political journey she had seen as a new beginning did not go according to her expectations. The process of accepting her resignation continued for a long time. By the time the process moved ahead, the opportunity to contest the election had passed. After that, she did not get an election ticket from the party either.

The result was that the government job she had left in the hope of building a political future was gone, while the route into electoral politics did not open immediately. The opportunity to become an MLA also remained out of reach.

Nisha is now at home. She is handling the responsibilities of a mother, wife and daughter. But the most emotional part of this entire journey, according to her, is her concern about the future of her five-year-old son.

She believes that after leaving her job, her financial security is no longer what it was earlier. She does not have enough savings, and there is no certainty about the future. After reaching a point where a secure government administrative career was in front of her, she now has to think again about how to begin her career.

Her situation has changed sharply from the time when she was preparing for competitive examinations and working her way from engineering to the MPPSC, then from DSP to Deputy Collector. The position that represented the result of years of effort has been left behind, and the political goal that led to her resignation has not yet been achieved.

Despite these ups and downs, Nisha Bangre does not consider herself a finished chapter. She says she has to rebuild her life. Her next goals include ensuring better education for her children and working for social change.

Her story is not only about leaving a government job or not receiving an election ticket. It is also the story of a decision to give up a secure administrative career and choose politics as a way to bring change. She believed that politics would allow her to raise people’s issues on a larger scale, but the destination has, for now, remained distant.

On one side is the post of Deputy Collector that she left. On the other is an unfinished political dream. Nisha now faces the difficult question of whether she will be able to rebuild her career with the same strength with which she had achieved her first goal. She says she will not give up and will try to stand her life up again.