From being associated with the Bihar investigation into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput to having songs written about him and more recently, joining politics -- former Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey has been making headlines for several months now. Ahead of the Bihar elections, the top cop had sought early retirement, and days after being granted the same, joined the Nitish Kumar led JD(U).
Since then, many had opined that he would be contesting the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections, possibly from Buxar, even as Pandey remained noncommittal. This expectation however was dashed recently, as the Janata Dal (United) released the first list of 115 candidates for Bihar Assembly Elections 2020.
Hours later, the JD(U) member took to his Facebook account to address the discussion around his omission from the ballots. Emphasising that he was dedicated to the people of Bihar, he wrote in Hindi that he was being besieged by calls from well wishers wondering what had happened.
"After I got free, everyone expected that I will contest the election but I am not contesting assembly elections this time. There's no such thing as being frustrated. Be patient. My life has been spent in the struggle. I will be serving the public all my life. Please be patient and do not call me," he wrote in Hindi. Pandey said that his life was dedicated to the people of Bihar and its people.
"Keep your love and blessings going," Pandey said in a Facebook post written in Hindi.
JDU has been allotted 122 seats and BJP has got 121 seats for Bihar Assembly polls. JDU will give seven seats to Jitan Ram Manjhi-led HAM from its 122 seats while the BJP will give 11 seats to Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) from its share of 121 seats. Based on the seat sharing arrangement, Bharatiya Janta party gave a ticket to Parshuram Chaturvedi from Buxar constituency.
Elections to the 243-seat Bihar assembly will be held in three phases--October 28, November 3, and 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.
(With inputs from agencies)
