Three ex-IAS officers, 9 former senior cops throw hat in Punjab poll ring
CHANDIGARH : Three former IAS officers and nine senior ex-police officers are in the fray from various political parties in the Punjab assembly elections this time. Barring former Tamil Nadu additional chief secretary Jagmohan Singh Raju and Punjab-cadre ex-inspector general of police (IGP) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, most of these ex-officers joined political parties after retirement. Pratap and Raju took premature retirement to join politics.
While Pratap, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from the Amritsar North constituency, had nearly 8 years of service left, Raju, the BJP candidate from Amritsar East that is witnessing a high-profile contest between
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia, had oneand-half-years for his superannuation. Though Raju belongs to scheduled caste (SC) category, the BJP has announced his candidature from Amritsar, an unreserved seat.
Retired Punjab principal secretary Sucha Ram Ladhar, who is contesting on BJP ticket from Gill segment, is another former senior bureaucrat in the fray.
Ladhar, also a scheduled caste, had earlier formed Kiri Kisan Sher-E-Punjab Party, which he merged with the BJP a couple of months back. From the same seat, sitting MLA Kuldeep Vaid, a retired IAS officer, is the Congress nominee.
Ex-Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officer Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, who became Congress MLA from the Phagwara reserved seat in the 2019 assembly bypolls, is contesting from the same seat.
Apart from Kunwar, other former police officials who have thrown their hat in the ring are retired IGP Surinder Singh Sodhi, who is contesting on AAP ticket from Jalandhar Cantonment, retired Jalandhar deputy commissioner of police Balkar Singh, AAP nominee from Kartarpur. Former DIG Iqbal Singh Lalpura, who was chairperson of the National Minority Commission, has been fielded by the BJP from the Ropar assembly segment. Arjuna Awardee basketball player Sajjan Singh Cheema, who had also taken premature retirement to unsuccessfully contest on AAP ticket from Sultanpur Lodhi in 2017, is in the fray this time again from the seat. Ashok Bath, a retired SSP, is trying his luck from Balachaur segment this time. He belongs to the Gujjar community that dominates the segment.
Punjab Lok Congress’ Nakodar candidate Shammi Kumar Kalyan is also a retired police officer. Balwinder Singh Sekhon, a police officer who was dismissed two days before his retirement last year, has filed nomination from Amritsar East.
Three won in 2017
Three of these retired officers who had won in the 2017 polls are union minister for state Som Parkash (Phagwara), a retired IAS officer, Kuldeep Vaid from Gill and retired additional deputy commissioner Ajaib Singh Bhatti, who was deputy speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha. Bhatti this time has been denied ticket by the Congress.