Former IPS officer Bhaskar Rao joins AAP, may contest 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls

Having formally joined the AAP, the former Bengaluru city police commissioner said both Karnataka and Bengaluru were progressive lands, but suffered due to corruption in politics. “In my 32 years of service as IPS officer, I have seen how political parties operate in Karnataka. I know their inside and outside operations. I was impressed by the AAP administration and wanted to join. This is a continuation of my first innings to serve people, but at a wider spectrum,” he said.

Receiving him into the party fold, Kejriwal said, “Welcome to the AAP family, Shri Bhaskar Rao ji. Your experience in public service will definitely help AAP to strengthen and grow in Karnataka,” in a post on Twitter.

Rao emphasised that the common man in Karnataka was not getting what he deserved. “People are changing but the system is not. I believe the AAP can transform a system which can usher development in the state.

He said he had visited schools in Delhi earlier and could not believe that government schools could provide such quality education and facilities. “The common man needs education, health and a sense of security. The AAP has done it well and I am hoping to make that change in Karnataka as well,” said the 1990 batch IPS officer.

He had applied for voluntary retirement in September last year as, according to sources, he was unhappy with the way he was treated by the current state government.

Born in Bengaluru, Rao did his graduation at the National College in Bengaluru where he was a student leader. He briefly worked with the Indian Army before joining as a lecturer at NMKRV College for Women in Bengaluru. After securing a rank of 101 in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination, he gave up the option to join the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and joined Indian Police Service (IPS) under the Karnataka Cadre.

During an interview in 2018, he said, “If not a police officer, I would have been a successful politician. I always had an interest in bringing transformation in society.”

Rao was recently in the news after he filed a protest memo against a CBI closure report of June 30, 2021, regarding closing an investigation into the leak of an official phone intercept on account of insufficient evidence.