Ex-DGP Gupteshwar Pandey: Twice bitten by political bug, but always shy

“I am not contesting any election.... Please don’t make phone calls to enquire about it,” former DGP of Bihar, Gupteshwar Pandey, posted an emotional post on Facebook, a day after he was denied a ticket.

Sharing his thoughts, he dwelt at length that ever since he took VRS in September 2020 and joined the JD(U) in October, speculations were rife that he would be contesting the ensuing Assembly election as Nitish’s nominee, “but, in politics, there are certain compulsions.....However, Nitish Kumar has not let me down. He never deceives anyone.... I will work for the party like an ordinary worker.”

Incidentally, the 1987 batch IPS officer, Pandey has been denied poll ticket twice since 2009. Eleven years ago, when he was an IG-rank officer, he took VRS on the eve of the 2009 Lok Sabha election. He was speculated to contest the parliamentary poll from Buxar as the BJP candidate in place of party’s veteran parliamentarian Lalmuni Choubey. However, Choubey, an Advani protege, managed to get the BJP ticket from Buxar, and the IPS officer had to beat a hasty retreat and withdraw his VRS application.

In 2020, the clock turned a full circle when Pandey met a similar fate. The Director General of Police (DGP) of Bihar, who was to retire in February 2021, opted for voluntary retirement in September. Within a fortnight of his VRS, he joined the JD(U) amid much fanfare. It was speculated that he might be fielded from either Buxar, his birth place, or Shahpur in Bhojpur.

Incidentally, both the seats went to the BJP under the seat-sharing pact with the JD(U) and Pandey was left twiddling his thumbs. Interestingly, the BJP has fielded Parshuram Chaturvedi, a former constable, from Buxar.

To rub salt on Pandey’s wounds, the JD(U) gave ticket to his batch-mate Sunil Kumar, a super cop in the DG rank, who superannuated two months back to join Nitish’s organisation. A 1987-batch IPS officer, Sunil is admired by all for being an upright and honest officer.

Sunil has been fielded as the JD(U) nominee from Bhore in Gopalganj from where his brother Anil Kumar won during the 2015 Assembly election as the Congress candidate. This year, Anil is unlikely to contest the poll.