Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government’s pick for Gorakhpur in the latest IPS reshuffle has become fresh fodder for controversy in Uttar Pradesh, with the opposition accusing it of “saffronising” the police force.
The man in the eye of the storm is 1992-batch UP-cadre officer Dawa Sherpa, who will soon take charge as the Additional Director General (ADG) of Police in Gorakhpur, the home turf of Yogi Adityanath. The bone of contention is Sherpa’s previous stint with the BJP and his “absence” from service for four years.
According to the official records, Sherpa was “absent” from service from 2008 till 2012. He had reportedly applied for Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) in October 2008 and proceeded on long leave from his posting at Sitapur as Commandant, 2nd Battalion PAC. The state home department, however, could not decide on whether to accept Sherpa's plea as he had not completed 20 years of service, a must to be eligible for VRS.
During this “absence”, Sherpa went back to his hometown Darjeeling and emerged as a well-known face of Gorkhaland politics. He later joined the BJP, becoming the party’s state secretary.
Sherpa reportedly wanted to contest the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Darjeeling, but lost out the BJP ticket to Jaswant Singh at the 11th hour. He then resigned from the party and joined the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL). He also held the post of convenor in the Democratic Front, which comprised six regional parties, including the ABGL.
Sherpa, who was once considered close to former BJP chief Rajnath Singh, returned to active police service in Uttar Pradesh in 2012. He was promoted to the post of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in 2013 and later to the post of Inspector General. His latest posting was as the ADG in Crime Branch-CID division.
Strongly objecting to Sherpa’s flip-flop between police service and politics, former UP police chief Vikram Singh said, “While in service, you cannot do such things. If you really want to do politics, then take off that uniform and go ahead with full-time politics. Nobody is stopping anyone. But you cannot do politics and be an IPS officer at the same time. You have identified yourself with a particular outfit and a particular political ideology. Therefore, you have no right to be in the All India Service."
"Under the All India Service Rule Section 3-1, absolute intellectual and moral integrity is required for public service. This officer might have resigned in order to do politics, but when he failed, he joined back. This also raises questions on corruption in the system. This matter should be investigated. Under what circumstances did he return? How come his resignation was not accepted? Was it manipulation? The fact remains that you have indulged in politics for a few years. That is sufficient reason for you to not wear the uniform," Singh said while speaking to News18.
Objecting to Sherpa’s new posting, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Sunil Singh Sajan said the BJP is picking officers “who share its ideology”. “The BJP is trying to place officers who are somehow in agreement with the partyline not just in police force, but on all important positions. They want to suppress the Opposition’s voice, but let me assure you that they won’t be able to suppress the voice of the Samajwadi Party,” Sajan said.
“The government must clarify on where Dawa Sherpa was during his absence, which party he was linked to and for whom was he was working. When everybody knows that he was in politics, a serious question arises on whether he would function according to the constitutional oath taken by him or will he function according to the oath he took while working for the BJP,” Sajan added.
The Congress demanded Sherpa’s removal from the post and an inquiry into how he was “allowed” to re-join the force after working for the BJP.
“Mr Sherpa should be immediately removed from his posting and an independent inquiry should be conducted to ascertain where he was for almost four years of his service break. How was he allowed to join back as an IPS after working for the BJP and other political outfits? This is a very serious issue and the home ministry should answer these questions. How can anyone expect him to function without political bias when he has been a BJP member and an active politician in Gorkhaland politics?” asked Congress spokesperson Zishan Haider.
“The Chief Minister is working on saffronisation agenda. The officers who share the same mentality are being appointed to help the government suppress any voice raised against them,” Haider added.
When contacted, BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “Right now, I am not aware of this situation. The party will take note of it as the BJP’s only agenda is to bring transparency in the system and appoint responsible officers. We want good governance from responsible officers and not at all want them to act as party representatives.”
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