Former Bihar Director-General of Police (DGP), Gupteshwar Pandey, joined Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) last month. Pandey, who was to retire in February next year, resigned from the police services and expressed his political ambitions.
Pandey said he would enter politics only if the people of his home district Buxar want him to do so. "People have been coming to me in large numbers from Begusarai, Sitamarhi, Shahpur and several other districts, telling me that if I wish to enter politics then I should contest election from their district. Buxar is my home district where I was born and brought up. It will be a decision by them. If they want me to, then I may enter politics" he told ANI.
However, Pandey has now been caught in a fix as his home district Buxar has gone to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of NDA's seat-sharing agreement. According to the agreement, JD(U) will contest on 122 seats and BJP will get 121 out of a total of 243 seats. It was also evident when Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Tuesday announced the list of seats on which the party will contest the elections.
Meanwhile, the BJP has announced a list of 27 candidates on Tuesday night. However, the saffron party did not name candidates for two seats from Buxar district -- Buxar and Brahampur. The BJP has however announced a candidate from Shahpur, which was considered as an alternative seat for Pandey.
It now all depends on the BJP whether they will give Pandey the ticket from his home district. However, the party is reluctant. Speaking to The Print, party spokesperson and former MLA Rajiv Ranjan said, "The BJP leadership is likely to take a call on the seat today."
According to the report, the BJP’s reluctance to hand Pandey the Buxar ticket is because of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. To the uninitiated, Pande was overtly critical of the Mumbai Police and their handling of the case. He had also courted a controversy for a sexist comment about the deceased actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty. "Bihar ke mukhyamantri pe comment karne ki aukaat Rhea Chakraborty ki nahi hai," he had said.
