IAS officer Tekam joins BJP, likely to contest from Keshkal seat in C'gargh

IAS officer Neelkanth Tekam who recently resigned from service joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday and is likely to contest the upcoming assembly polls in Chhattisgarh.

Tekam joined the party in the presence of the BJP's state in-charge Om Mathur, state unit chief Arun Sao, former chief minister Raman Singh and other senior leaders during a party workers' convention in Keshkal town in Kondagaon district.

Tekam, a state-cadre officer who was elevated to the Indian Administrative Service in 2008, had served as Kondagaon collector in the past, and is likely to contest from Keshkal assembly seat in the district. He was the director of treasury and accounts when he applied for voluntary retirement. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) accepted his resignation on August 17.

Asked whether he was going to contest from Keshkal, Tekam told PTI, "If it happens, its impact will be seen in all 12 seats of Bastar as I have worked in all the places of the region. "There is a wave of change in the state and the party will benefit from it. We have already devised a strategy and efforts will be to work for the rights of the people of Bastar. There is not much difference between bureaucracy and politics and it is good if bureaucrats join politics if they get opportunity to work in this direction," he said. Tekam (55), who belongs to a Scheduled Tribe community, also said that he did not see the Sarva Adivasi Samaj, an umbrella body of tribal communities in Bastar which is planning to contest the polls, as a challenge for the BJP.

Tekam, a resident of Antagarh in neighbouring Kanker district, is the second IAS officer after O P Choudhary to opt for voluntary retirement and join the BJP. Choudhary, who quit in 2018, unsuccessfully contested from Kharsia assembly seat in the last assembly elections. He is now the general secretary of the state BJP.