‘If people want me to’: Former Bihar police chief Gupteshwar Pandey hints at joining politics

Former Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey on Thursday hinted at entering politics, saying if people want him to contest elections, ‘then I may enter politics.’

“People are coming to me in large numbers, telling me that if I wish to enter politics then I should contest election from their district. Everyone is very close to me. It’ll be a decision by the public. If they want me to, then I may enter politics,” Pandey told news agency ANI.

On criticism of his decision by political leaders, the former Bihar police chief said, “It’ll will obviously happen as I don’t have a godfather. I don’t have a political backgorund. We used to do farming and rear cattle. I’ve come from there. It’s not acceptable to some.”

 

#WATCH It'll obviously happen as I've no godfather. I don't have a political background. We used to do farming & rear cattle. I've come from there. It's not acceptable to some: Gupteshwar Pandey, former Bihar DGP who recently took VRS, when asked on criticism by political leaders pic.twitter.com/MHiZkmatmU

— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2020

The sudden decision by the 1987-batch IPS officer to retire from service--he retired under voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) on Tuesday evening--has led to many politicians, especially from Maharashtra and Bihar, to accuse Pandey of using actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death as ‘political capital’ in the view of the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls.

Pandey had garnered a lot of media attention for his comments on the 34-year-old actor’s death case.

Also, this is the second time he has taken VRS from service. In March 2009, he took premature retirement as he allegedly wanted to contest that year’s Lok Sabha elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket but was not granted one.

Months later, Pandey rejoined service after the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar approved his request of allowing him to withdraw his resignation.