IPS officer seeks VRS to contest poll

Jacob Thomas, the senior-most IPS officer in Kerala, has sought voluntary retirement from service as he plans to contest the Lok Sabha polls, even as ex-IPS officer T P Senkumar, who was earlier expected to be a BJP candidate, is not in the fray.

Jacob, who has been under suspension for over a year on charges of violating conduct rules and criticising the Left government in Kerala, is planning to contest under the banner of Twenty20, a NGO, at Chalakkudi constituency in central Kerala.

A 1985-batch IPS officer, Jacob Thomas has service till May 2020. Though he was earlier considered as a no-nonsense officer as he initiated probes against senior IAS officers, a series of allegations in government purchases and illegal land holdings surfaced against him later.

Twenty20 was formed as a Corporate Social Responsibility agency of the Kitex group at Kizhakamabalam near Kochi. It came to limelight after it won the 2015 local body elections at the local gram panchayat. The entry of Twenty20 in the Lok Sabha polls is a cause of concern among mainstream political parties.

Meanwhile, former Kerala police chief T P Senkumar, who was initially being considered actively as a BJP candidate for the Attingal constituency, is not it the fray.

His relationship with the BJP had strengthened over the Sabarimala row as he was also against the entry of women in the 10-50 age group.

But the relationship worsened after he openly flayed the decision to confer Padma Bhushan award to ISRO former scientist Nambi Narayanan. However, Senkumar is now actively seen in campaign meetings for BJP’s Thiruvananthapuram candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan.