C'garh IAS officer who quit service joins BJP

Former Raipur District Collector O P Choudhary, who resigned from service last week, today joined the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh.

There are reports that he might contest the upcoming state Assembly elections due by the end of this year.

A 2005-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Choudhary was inducted into the BJP in the presence of party chief Amit Shah and Chief Minister Raman Singh in New Delhi today.

"I took the membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Amit Shah ji and Dr Raman Singh ji in Delhi," Choudhary posted on his Facebook page along with his photo with Shah and Singh.

 

Choudhary, who hails from Bayang village in the state's Raigarh district, had last week resigned from the administrative service, saying he wanted to devote his time for the betterment of people and area.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), New Delhi accepted his resignation on August 24.

In a video message posted on his social media page, he said, "...After joining the civil services, I tried my best to do whatever I can for the people. But now the collectorship was about to finish and service at Mantralaya was to start. In such a situation, the dreams which I had seen for my people would not be fulfilled from inside Mantralaya."

"In my opinion, politics provides opportunity along with challenges, through which hundreds of administrators can be raised," he said.

Sources in the BJP said the party has been looking for a suitable candidate for the assembly seat.

There are reports that Chaudhary, who is credited for bringing transformation in education in the naxal-affected Dantewada district of the state, will contest the upcoming assembly polls from Kharsiya seat, a Congress bastion, in his native Raigarh district.

Umesh Patel, son of former state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, who was killed in Jhiram valley naxal attack in Darbha region of Bastar ahead of 2013 assembly polls, is the incumbent Congress MLA from Kharsiya.

Choudhary belongs to Aghariya community, a dominant OBC community in Raigarh, and he may dent the traditional Congress vote bank if the saffron party decides to field him from the seat.

The officer was given the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2011-12 for his contribution in development of Naxal-affected areas through education.

Choudhary came to spotlight in 2011-12 when he was posted as Dantewada Collector and had set up 'Education City' in Jawanga village of the district.

For his contribution in the development of Naxal-hit areas through education, Choudhary was given the prestigious Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2011-12.

State BJP chief Dharamlal Kaushik said, the party will benefit from Choudhary, who is connected to the rural areas, from where he belongs, and served as an administrative officer.

"He has a better understanding of the schemes and issues related to people as he had worked in the state and has been popular due to his works," Kaushik said.

When asked whether he will be given a ticket in the coming assembly polls, Kaushik said the party will be decide it later.