Days after taking voluntary retirement from service, former IPS officer Asim Arun has joined the BJP and is likely to contest the upcoming assembly polls from Kannauj.
New Delhi: Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, former IPS officer Asim Arun joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Lucknow. During the event, while speaking to the media, the former IPS officer said that he is impressed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has given a new path of development to the nation.
“BJP gave me a suggestion to join politics to contribute more towards social work. There is a lot that I couldn’t do during my job tenure, so I decided to enter politics. I am also impressed with PM Modi who has given a new path of development,” said the former IPS officer.
Asim Arun joined BJP days after taking voluntary retirement from service. Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP UP president Swatantra Dev Singh welcomed him into the party fold. The senior IPS officer of the 1994 batch had taken to Twitter to announce his VRS from the post of Kanpur Police Commissioner, sparking speculation that he would join the BJP and contest the upcoming assembly polls.
An additional director general of police (ADGP)-rank officer, 51-year-old Asim Arun has previously helmed Uttar Pradesh’s Anti-Terrorist Squad, the 112 services besides leading the police force in districts like Aligarh, Gorakhpur and Agra.
Asim Arun is learnt to have won the confidence of CM Yogi Adityanath who picked him to be appointed as Kanpur’s first police commissioner. His father, Sri Ram Arun was the UP DGP during the tenure of former CM late Kalyan Singh in 1997. Sri Ram, who passed away in August 2018, is said to have conceived the idea of the UP Special Task Force (STF).
Former IAS Officer Ram Bahadur:
Former IAS officer Ram Bahadur formally joined the BJP in January 2022. Bahadur had contested the 2017 assembly elections on a BSP ticket and had contested from Mohanlalganj seat. Though he lost by a thin margin of around 530 votes. After 2017, Bahadur had floated his own political outfit Nagrik Ekta party and has been active on various social and political issues.
Ram Bahadur has been close to BSP chief Mayawati. As vice-chairman of Lucknow Development Authority, he had taken some very tough decisions including a crackdown on illegal encroachments. He is said to have been a member of All India Backward (SC, ST, OBC) And Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), the ideological fountainhead of BSP founded by Kanshiram.
Ex- IAS Officer Arvind Kumar Sharma:
Arvind Kumar Sharma, the IAS officer, who had taken voluntary retirement and joined the BJP, was appointed a vice-president of the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit. Having worked closely with Narendra Modi for about 20 years, first in the Chief Minister’s Office of Gujarat and then at the Centre after Modi became Prime Minister, Arvind Kumar Sharma joined the BJP.
The 1988 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Sharma took voluntary retirement earlier this week, more than a year before his superannuation in July 2022. Sharma was inducted into the party in presence of Uttar Pradesh BJP unit president Swatantra Dev Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma.
Former UP DGP Brij Lal:
Former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Brijlal joined BJP in presence of party state in-charge Om Mathur and senior party officials. Lal was Mayawati’s trusted officer. He was first made additional director-general of law and order and later the state DGP. He also enjoyed the confidence of former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh and is known as an effective administrator.
He held the multiple charge of ADG-Law and Order, Crime, Special Task Force and Anti-Terrorist Squad during Mayawati’s tenure as chief minister from 2007 to 2012. He was later promoted as the state’s top cop and made DGP during the last months of Mayawati’s regime. The Election Commission had later removed him from the DGP’s post during the run up to the 2012 assembly polls on complaints by the Samajwadi Party and Congress that he was acting like a BSP agent.
Former Mumbai police commissioner Satya Pal Singh:
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP fielded the then Mumbai police commissioner Satya Pal Singh from Baghpat. Singh defeated the then sitting MP and RLD chief Ajit Singh by well over 2 lakh votes. He was subsequently appointed as junior minister in the Union ministry for Human resources. Satya Pal again won Baghpat seat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, this time defeating Ajit Singh’s son Jayant Chaudhary.
Former IAS Kunwar Fateh Bahadur:
Uttar Pradesh cadre officer Kunwar Fateh Bahadur Singh joins the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party. Immediately, he has been made party spokesman to represent party in media debates, a first with BSP. An 1981-batch Kunwar Fateh Bahadur has attained superannuation and joined BSP.
A long-time Mayawati confidant Fateh Bahadur held the important posts of Principal Secretary of Home and Appointment departments during 2007-2012 regime of Mayawati as the Chief Minister. In fact, the Law and Order during the Mayawati regime was generally appreciated by the people with Fateh Bahadur as head of Home department.
Former IAS Panna Lal Punia:
After his retirement in 2005, Punia joined the Congress and contested the Assembly elections from- Fatehpur in 2007, but Mayawati put in all efforts to ensure his defeat. A close confidant of BSP boss Mayawati — he has been Mayawati’s principal secretary in 1995, 1997 and 2002 — contested from Fatehgarh but lost to BSP’s Meeta Gautam.
In 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Congress gave him a ticket to contest from Barabanki which he won. Punia, however, lost the seat to BJP’s Prayanka Rawat in 2014. He was then routed to Rajya Sabha.
Former IPS officer Ahmad Hasan:
Ahmad Hasan, a former IPS officer, had joined the Samajwadi Party after retirement and has served as minister in the SP government. He has been the leader of opposition in the Vidhan Parishad and is close to both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav. He currently serves as the Leader of Opposition in Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad. He has previously served as the Minister of Health and Minister of Education in the Samajwadi government.
He was promoted to DIG rank in 1989 and retired in 1992 after serving illustriously for more than 30 years in the police force. In 1994, Ahmad Hasan joined the Samajwadi party to continue working for the upliftment of weaker sections of the society.
Former PCS officer Shyam Singh Yadav:
Sitting BSP MP Shyam Singh Yadav is a former PCS officer who joined BSP just before the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Retired Director General of Police Brijlal joined the BJP after retirement and was sent to the Rajya Sabha in 2020.
Former bureaucrat Tribhuvan Ram:
Former bureaucrat in politics is Tribhuvan Ram who retired as chief engineer of PWD and then joined BSP. He served as MLA and later joined the BJP.
Ex-IPS officer B.P. Singhal:
B.P. Singhal, former IPS officer and brother of late VHP leader Ashok Singhal, was sent to the Rajya Sabha after he joined the BJP post retirement.
Ex-IPS officer Shirish Chandra Dixit:
Shirish Chandra Dixit was among the first IPS officers who joined the BJP in the 1980s and played a key role in the Ayodhya temple movement. He was also elected to the 10th Lok Sabha from Varanasi.
Devendra Bahadur Rai:
Devendra Bahadur Rai, who was SSP Faizabad in 1992 when the Babri Masjid demolition took place, later joined the BJP after retirement and went on to become MP from Sultanpur.
Retired IAS officer Devi Dayal:
Retired IAS officer Devi Dayal also joined the Congress after retirement and even contested a Lok Sabha election.
Former IPS officer Mahendra Singh Yadav:
Former IPS officer Mahendra Singh Yadav had taken voluntary retirement from service and went on to become a legislator from SP. His wife, Neera Yadav, was chief secretary in UP.
Others:
Bureaucrats including S.K. Varma, R.P. Shukla and Baba Hardev joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal after retirement while some others formed their own party.
Former IAS officer Chandrapal formed the Adarsh Samaj Party and Tapendra Prasad, former PCS, formed Samyek Party. Both could not make much headway in politics.
