The poll battle in Jharkhand has assumed fascinating dimension with parties fielding former bureaucrats and ex top cops in the year-end elections. Nearly, half a dozen former bureaucrats are going to contest the election.
While the ruling party BJP has fielded two former bureaucrats and a senior retired IPS officer, Congress State president Rameshwar Oraon, a 1972 batch retired IPS officer is contesting election from Lohardaga Assembly segment. Congress has also fielded former DGP Rajiv Kumar, another prominent face which caught the ticket probable by surprise, from Kanke, a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes.
Kumar had joined the Congress ahead of the 2019 assembly elections. He was one of the front runners from Palamu Lok Sabha seat. However, the seat was allotted to the RJD during the seat sharing. He had now been compensated by giving an Assembly ticket. Similarly, retired ADG (Wireless) Rezi Dungdung is contesting election from Simdega as Jharkhand Party (JP) candidate. The number of retired IAS and IPS officers contesting election would have been more had the BJP would have given ticket to four ex-babus and top cops who joined saffron party last month. On October 24, former Jharkhand police chief Dinesh Kumar Pandey, former IAS officers Suchitra Sinha and R P Singh and former IPS officer Arun Oraon joined the BJP, but the Saffron party decided to rely on old warhorse (retired IAS and IPS officers), who joined BJP in 2014.
Jyoti Bhramar Tubid, a former IAS officer who could have become State Chief Secretary has been fielded by BJP from Chaibasa seat for second consecutive term. In 2014, months before the Assembly election he joined BJP after taking VRS from his active service. Tubid was serving as principal secretary for Revenue and Land Reforms as well as in the Cabinet secretariat when he applied for VRS just before the elections were announced.
He was due to retire in 2019, but contested on BJP ticket from Chaibasa (Scheduled Tribe) seat losing to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Dipak Birua.
Though he lost the election in 2014 Assembly election, but he continued working both in his constituency and in party. The BJP had given the role of party spokesperson to Tubid. Similarly, BJP has fielded ex bureaucrat and former state Congress president Sukhdeo Bhagat as party candidate from Lohardaga. The Saffron party has again fielded retired IPS officer Laxman Prasad Singh from Dhanwar seat.
In 2014 before the Assembly election, Singh along with others had joined BJP and contested election from Dhanwar seat but lost to CPI (ML) candidate Raj Kumar Yadav. This time again the Dhanwar seat is going to have poll battle between Laxman and Yadav.
Another IPS officer who is poll battle is retired ADG Rezi Dungdung, who filed his nomination from Simdega on Jharkhand Party (JP) ticket. Dungdung said, “I had sincerely worked as an IPS officer and after retirement I decided to render service to people as a public representative and decided to join politics.” The IAS and IPS officers who joined BJP few months back claim that they don’t feel remorse on party denying their claim this time.
Former Punjab cadre IPS officer, Arun Oraon said, “We are just month old in BJP. I had join BJP without any demand to contest election. The party has assigned me job to help BJP candidates in Assembly constituencies falling under Lohardaga Parliamentary seat.”
Sources said that IAS and IPS officers are joining political parties as they are influenced with the senior as many IAS and IPS officers have reached top in their political career too.