A dozen former IPS officers joined poll consultant Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj campaign on Sunday, expressing hope for a change in the political system in Bihar.
Freedom fighter and Gandhian leader Lakshman Deo Singh welcomed them to the fold at a function in Patna and asserted that the aim of Independence will be complete only when the 7 lakh villages in the country become “village republics”, with the governance in the hands of the people.
The 12 ex-IPS officers are Sant Kumar Paswan, Jitendra Mishra, K.B. Singh, Umesh Singh, Anil Singh, Shiva Kumar Jha, Ashok Kumar Singh, Rakesh Kumar Mishra, C.P. Kiran, Muhammad Rahman Momin, Shankar Jha, and Dilip Mishra. They belonged to the batches between 1979 and 2004.
Speaking on the occasion, Paswan, a 1979-batch officer who retired as Chhattisgarh director-general of police (DGP), vowed solidarity with Jan Suraaj and said: “It is like a dream for me to work again for the people. I come from a community where becoming an engineer and an IPS was unbelievable, but I did both. I will now work to fulfil the vision of Jan Suraaj.”
Kishor was not present on the occasion as he is currently marching through the Vaishali district. Earlier this week, six former IAS officers had joined the Jan Suraaj campaign.
Jan Suraaj sources asserted that over 200 former and serving professionals from different walks of life were in queue to formally join the campaign.
The Jan Suraaj campaign launched by Kishor last year, calls for a collective effort for the betterment of people’s lives and a radical change in the socio-political system of Bihar with an aim to place Bihar among the top 10 states in the country in the next 10 years.
Kishor is currently on a padyatra (march) across the state. He started it from Mahatma Gandhi’s Bhitiharwa Ashram in West Champaran on October 2 last year with an aim to identify people at the grassroots and provide them a suitable democratic platform, understand local problems and priorities, and prepare a vision document for the next 15 years for health, education, employment, economy, development, agriculture, industry, social justice and other areas.
Walking across West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran and Vaishali districts, Kishor has traversed around 2700km till now. He aims to launch a political outfit with the nod of the people connected with Jan Suraaj, once the march is over. It will contest polls in the state.
