Former DG of Bihar police, Gupteshwar Pandey on Saturday made an abortive bid to confirm JD(U) candidature even after meeting the party's National President and Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar. Pandey went to the JDU office on Beerchand Patel Road in Patna in his SUV, displaying the JD(U) flag with the Chief Minister's photo. He had a brief meeting with Nitish who was also engaged with individual meetings with the party workers coming from different districts for tickets.
The former DGP who called himself as a disciple (shishya) of Nitish Kumar said that he had come to meet the Chief Minister to thank him for his support during his tenure as the head of Bihar police. He also said he would announce his decision to join the party and the constituency from where he might contest. "It is still undecided," he explained after meeting with the JDU president.
Pandey who described Nitish Kumar as the best Chief Minister said that he had solved the problems of 'bijli, sadak and paani (electricity, roads and water)' and had successfully led the prohibition campaign. Pandey claimed that he has a vast following all over the state as he had served in 26 districts.
Pandey is expected to start his campaign from October 1 at Buxar. He told his supporters that he would be visiting Buxar and Begusarai next week. Incidentally, he is a native of Buxar and had served as the SP in Begusarai.
Buxar had traditionally been a Brahmin dominated constituency. In the past, all the candidates who had been elected were Brahmins, whether from the Congress or the BJP. Former Minister Jagnaraian Trivedi and his father were elected on Congress tickets for half a dozen terms and later, Sukhada Pandey, a member of the first national executive committee of the BJP since 1980, was elected thrice.
Pandey had tried to contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 too. He had tendered his resignation as the IGP, but later withdrew when he was denied a ticket. At present, Pandey is putting out a series of speeches on his achievements through social media. One of his supporters, Deepak Thakur, who is also a former Bigg Boss participant, has released a song about the former DGP who is the 'Robinhood' of Bihar. Sung in the local dialect, it has since become popular in the state.
