Serving IPS Officer Offers To Campaign For BJP In 2019 Polls

Throwing all service rules aside, a 1982 batch Indian Police Services (IPS) officer, Dr. Surya Kumar Shukla, has written a letter to none other than the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about his wish to campaign for the ruling BJP in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Shukla, who is presently posted as the Director General (DG) of the Home Guard, is due to retire on August 31, 2018.

Shukla had earlier pledged to build the Ram Mandir at the disputed site in Ayodhya and had faced flak from various quarters, including the IPS lobby.

The serving officer has also identified the posts where he could be appointed.

"Post-retirement my pension will be enough to feed the family and my appointment at any of these posts- Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission, Chairman of the Gramudyog Board, Speaker of the State Social Welfare Board or Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board will help me in campaigning for the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections," his letter read.

“I have full commitment and faith in the work of your organisation and its ideology; I have served the people of different districts of the state and I am confident that I will be able to actively cooperate in giving further strength to your ongoing efforts,” he said in his letter dated July 23, 2018.

 It may be mentioned that earlier this year, a video of Surya Kumar Shukla had surfaced in which he was seen pledging the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and chanting "Jai Shree Ram" along with the members of Muslim Karsewak Manch.

Former DGP of UP, Vikram Singh, criticised Shukla for writing the letter and said that it is in the DNA of the IPS to work without being influenced by their religious affiliations .

 "An IPS officer's DNA is made in such a way that he/she continues to respect the work keeping religious ideologies aside. If he had faith in any ideology, he could have done it post his retirement and avoided the unnecessary controversies. I do not appreciate and encourage such kind of habits in policing," Singh said.

Shukla said over the phone, "These are my post-retirement plans and I am free to do whatever what I want to do after retirement. This is my personal wish and media should not make a propaganda of it. I have written the letter to the Chief Minister, and this communication is between me and him." 

 Meanwhile, Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, the spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) - the main opposition party - accused the BJP of using the state machinery for their political benefit.

 "It is very scary when the serving officers are expressing their political desires," Gandhi said. 

 Saurabh Sharma is a journalist and is the core team member of 101reporters, a pan India network of grassroots reporters.