Srinagar: After months of speculation, Kashmiri IAS officer Shah Faesal is learnt to have finally resigned from the services to join politics.

New Delhi based The Print quoting sources said the 2010 batch topper sought voluntary retirement Monday to join the Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference. Faesal, 35, who comes from the Lolab valley in north Kashmir’s Kupwara, is believed to be eyeing the Baramulla constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“He applied for voluntary retirement the day before, but the process takes time since it has to be approved by the DoPT,” a source familiar with the development told ThePrint.

Once his resignation is accepted, Faesal is expected to meet the National Conference leadership, including party chief Farooq Abdullah and son Omar.

“There will be a meeting between the NC leaders before his (Faesal) official induction into the party,” a senior party leader said.

Faesal has just returned to India from a stint as a Fulbright fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He arrived in the Valley on 2 January, after which he decided to resign.

Faesal could not be immediately reached for a comment, but sources close to him said resignation had been on his mind for a while.