Bihar assembly elections: Former DGP Gupteshwar Pandey left ticketless, says not contesting polls

The Janata Dal (United) released a list of 115 candidates for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, but former director general of police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey failed to make it to the list.

Pandey, 59, who had joined the JD (U) after taking voluntary retirement last month was in the running for a party ticket from Buxar or Shahpur seat in district Buzar. However, both Buxar, Pandey’s hometown, and Shahpur have gone to the BJP as per the seat-sharing formula.

Later in the evening, Pandey wrote a social media post announcing he is not contesting the Bihar Assembly election.

“People had expected that I would contest elections after voluntary retirement. But I am not contesting assembly elections. My life has been full of struggles. Have some patience. My life is dedicated to the people of Bihar and I greet everyone in my hometown Buxar,” Pandey wrote on Facebook.

Moneycontrol could not verify the authenticity of the post.

In Dumraon and Rajpur (reserved SC), the two seats for Buxar district that the JD(U) got, the party has fielded Anjum Ara and state minister Santosh Kumar Nirala.

The 1987-batch IPS officer has been in news for the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case. He had accused the Maharashtra Police of not cooperating in the probe before it eventually went to the CBI.

In the 27 names of candidates released by the BJP on Tuesday evening, two seats from Buxar district — Buxar and Brahampur — have been left out, while a candidate was named for Shahpur.

It is believed that the BJP is likely to give Brahampur seat to the Mukesh Sahni’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) that quit the Grand Alliance and joined the NDA formally on October 7.

Buxar is a BJP stronghold and has been represented thrice by Sukhda Pandey, a university professor.

Pandey’s political ambitions hit a roadblock earlier too. He sought voluntary retirement ahead of 2009 Lok Sabha polls expecting a BJP ticket. But he could not get a ticket then, too.