Ex-constable to contest from Bihar Assembly seat desired by former police chief

In the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar, the NDA will field a former police constable from the Buxar constituency, a seat desired by former DGP Gupteshwar Pandey who quit as the chief of the Bihar police force last month to join the JD(U). 

The Buxar seat went to the BJP as part of the seat-sharing agreement with the JD(U) for the elections. The BJP has decided to field Parshuram Chaturvedi, a former constable in the Bihar police, as its candidate from the constituency. 

When he joined the party headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar after taking voluntary retirement, Pandey had said that he would like to contest the polls and that he would prefer the Buxar seat as that was in his home district. He, however, does not figure in the list of 115 candidates the JD(U) has released for the Assembly elections schedule to he held in three phases from October 28. 

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Chaturvedi said he considered Pandey as his elder brother. He told reporters that he had a lot of affection for the former DGP and thanked the BJP for making him the party’s candidate.

Pandey downplayed his disappointment. In a post on Facebook, he said, “I am upset with the phone of many of my well-wishers. I also understand their anxiety and troubles. After I got free, everyone expected that I will contest the elections but I am not contesting assembly elections this time. There’s no such thing as being frustrated. Be patient. My life has been spent in the struggle.”

He continued: “I will be serving the public all my life. Please be patient and do not call me. My life is dedicated to the people of Bihar. I bow down to the land of my birthplace Buxar and to all the elder brothers, sisters, mothers and youth of all the caste and religion! Keep your love and blessings,” he said.

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Meanwhile, Maharashtra home Minister Anil Deshmukh too a dig at the NDA saying a question that he had raised on Tuesday was responsible for Pandey not being given a ticket. 

In a press conference on Tuesday, Deshmukh had asked BJP leader from Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, who is in charge of the party affairs in Bihar, if the he will campaign for Pandey, who had “insulted Maharashtra”.

“I had asked BJP leaders if they would campaign for him. Perhaps, that was the reason he was denied a ticket,” Deshmukh said, reported NDTV.

During the Bihar police’s investigations into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Pandey had alleged that the Mumbai police and the Maharashtra government were obstructing the investigations.