Published 18:47 IST, October 7th 2020
Bihar Elections: Fmr DGP Pandey's Buxur seat goes to BJP, Shreyasi to contest from Jamui
The former Bihar DGP who had been extremely vocal during the Sushant Singh Rajput death probe was looking to contest the elections from his hometown Buxur
It seems like former Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey's political ambitions are facing turbulence shortly after they took flight. Pandey, who took voluntary retirement to join the JD(U) ahead of the Bihar polls has faced a major setback after the seat he was eyeing went to the BJP under the NDA's seat-sharing scheme.
The former Bihar DGP who had been extremely vocal during the Sushant Singh Rajput death probe was looking to contest the Bihar elections from his hometown Buxur as a JD(U) candidate. However, Buxur has always been a stronghold for the saffron party with prominent faces like Ashwini Chaubey.
While the BJP refused to release the names of its candidates from Buxar and Brahampur, it has announced its candidate from Shahpur seat in Buxar, which was speculated to go to the retired DGP.
This is not the first time that Pandey's political aspirations have run out of steam before they took-off. Earlier, Pandey had taken premature retirement to contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, but the state government did not accept his VRS application and reinstated him in the service. He had recently been in the headlines for his stout defence of the Nitish Kumar administration when it was under attack from the Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra over Bihar Police's probe into the death of Rajput. It remains to be seen if the retired DGP would be offered another seat by Party supremo Nitish Kumar.
Shreyasi Singh to contest from Jamui
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games gold medallist shooter Shreyasi Singh, daughter of former Union Minister late Digvijay Singh, has announced that she would contest the Bihar Elections from the Jamui seat. She had formally joined the BJP in the presence of party leader Bhupendra Yadav on October 5.
The Bihar assembly polls will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10. The nomination process for the first phase, under which 71 of the total 243 seats will go to polls, began from October 1 and will end on October 8.
Updated 18:47 IST, October 7th 2020