Before the ink on his VRS application and its approval had dried, Gupteshwar Pandey was chaperoned into the Janata Dal United by chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday.

Till Tuesday night, Pandey was the director-general of police in Bihar, discharging his responsibilities with such zeal that he played a key role in transforming the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput into television opium that sought to distract attention from multiple national crises.

Soon after Nitish ushered Pandey into the party, the Opposition alleged that the retired officer had been “rewarded” for aiding the politicisation of the Sushant tragedy.

Pandey had taken voluntary retirement from the Indian Police Service on September 22. The mandatory notice period had been waived by the central and state governments amid suggestions that he would take the plunge into politics and could contest the Bihar Assembly elections in October-November.

Pandey, who was to retire in February 2021, had aggressively pursued Sushant’s case and questioned the aukaat (a derogatory word for stature) of the actor’s girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty, to comment on the Bihar chief minister.

Pandey had also frequently appeared on TV to take pot shots at Mumbai police — a practice that undermined not only the division of powers under which police is a subject of each state but also the professionalism of the premier police service.

While still in service, Pandey had featured in a music album titled Robin Hood Bihar Ke that eulogised him for his work as a police officer. He had shared the video on social media platforms on the day he took VRS.

The Indian Police Foundation, a think tank, had said: “A state DGP circulating such a video is in poor taste, demeaning his office and uniform. It sets a bad example for his juniors. It is also a violation of the conduct rules.”

On Sunday, Nitish himself welcomed Pandey into the JDU at the chief minister’s official residence — 1 Aney Marg — in Patna by making him a member and garlanding him with party signs.

Legislative Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Lok Sabha member Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh and building construction department minister Ashok Choudhary, just appointed executive president of the state unit of the JDU, were present.

Pandey later visited the JDU state headquarters in the Bihar capital to formally announce his entry into politics. “I was called by the chief minister and asked to join the party. I will abide by the order of my party and follow the directions of our leader (Nitish). The party will decide whether I have to contest the elections. I’m a simple person who doesn’t understand politics. I have spent my life working for the downtrodden,” Pandey said.

A spokesperson for the Opposition RJD, Mritunjay Tiwary, said: “This is the reward for the way Pandey was involved in whipping up people’s sentiments in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case. He looked less like a DGP and more like a JDU spokesperson while speaking aggressively about the case in public and on television channels.”