Lok Sabha elections: Terminated IPS officer Pankaj Choudhary to contest from Barmer-Jaisalmer seat; wife from Jodhpur
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Jaipur: Former IPS officer Pankaj Choudhary will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2019 from Barmer-Jaisalmer seat on a Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) ticket. The party has fielded Pankaj’s wife Mukul Choudhary from Jodhpur seat.
BSP in their second list for Lok Sabha polls decided names of the candidates for Jaipur, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore-Sirohi, Chittorgarh and Pali constituencies.
According to the party officials, this is the first time in the state when the husband-wife duo will contest the elections on the same party ticket.
The party has pitched former IAS Umrav Salodia from Jaipur seat, Shivaram Meghwal from Pali, Bhagirath Bishnoi from Jalore-Sirohi, Dr. Jagdish Chandra Sharma from Chittorgarh, Harish Kumar from Kota, Dr. Badri Prasad from Jhalawar-Baran, Imran Khan from Alwar, Kaishulal from Udaipur and Colonel Durgalal from Ajmer.
Rajasthan IPS officer Pankaj Kumar Chaudhary was terminated from his service due to the alleged grave personnel misconduct. He, without legally separating from his wife, was living with another woman and fathered a child, as per the reason cited for his dismissal. An order from the ministry of home affairs (MHA) dated February 19 was pasted outside his official residence at Gandhi Nagar in Jaipur on March 7.
The IPS officer had been at loggerheads with the government for a long time, publically criticizing its policies in the BJP government as well as the Congress government.
IPS Pankaj Chaudhary was in controversies over the past year several times due to his statements. He accused senior IPS and IAS officers of corruption. He reopened the case of history sheet Ghazi Fakir, father of local Congress MLA Saleh Mohammed in Barmer.
The dates for upcoming Lok Sabha Elections were announced by Election Commission of India. Polling in Rajasthan on 25 seats will be held on April 29 (Phase 4) and May 6 (Phase 5). The results will be announced on May 23.