Ex-IPS officer as VHP ‘Prant’ head: Opposition frowns, he says attracted by outfit’s ‘silent work’

While there have been instances of retired police officers joining political parties before – including Minister of State for Social Welfare Asim Arun, who contested and won the recent Assembly elections on a BJP ticket from Kannauj, after taking voluntary retirement – this is a rare instance of one of them joining the VHP, a hardline Sangh Parivar-affiliated outfit more in news for activities bordering taking the law into its own hands.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Singh said his focus would be promoting “unity in society” and inculcating “our culture and traditions” in youths through “sanskaar shalas (culture classes)”. Indicating that he had already started participating in such activities of the VHP, he added: “We need to tell them (the youth) that they shouldn’t get influenced by Western culture, and instead follow our ideals. Also, the country must be served.”

A native of Sonbhadra, Singh did post-graduation in science and got a law degree from Allahabad University before joining the UP Police in 1985. He was promoted to the Indian Police Service In 2002, and served in districts such as Prayagraj, Ayodhya and Mirzapur. His last years in service were essentially in Prayagraj and Ayodhya – he was appointed DIG, Prayagraj (Range), in July 2019 after serving as DIG (Kumbh Mela) the same year; was promoted to IG, Prayagraj (Range), in 2020 and served there till October 2021; and in June 2022, was transferred to Ayodhya (Range) where he served till his retirement as IG, PAC (Headquarters), in August 2022.

On January 1, he was appointed by the VHP as the Kashi Prant head, in-charge of 18 districts of UP, including Varanasi and Prayagraj.

Singh said even while in service he was impressed by how the VHP functioned, “how it worked without making too much noise and tried to make people left behind to join the mainstream”. “The most important aspect was that the VHP always put the nation first… then, (the concept of) sewa (service)… When I was part of the police, our responsibility was maintaining law and order and working towards controlling crime. There was a code of conduct, which we had to follow. Now, I am free and can work for the society,” the retired officer said.

VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said they were impressed too by Singh, particularly his “dedication towards the Hindu religion”. “He said he had served as a public servant, and now wanted to work with the VHP for the ‘national religion’. He proposed himself and asked for responsibility so that he could work for the Hindu community and the country,” said Bansal.

The VHP leader also talked about Singh’s service during the Kumbh Mela, adding: “He is greatly influenced by (Hindu) saints.”

Reacting to the appointment, Congress state spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said that service rules for Indian officers should change to keep a “check on such appointment and their misuse”. “This is unfortunate. Officers join political parties just six months after retirement. I think his pension should not be fixed, and there are other concerns as well, regarding his use for political purposes. Sometimes, such persons can dilute old cases against them. Service rules should have a time period after retirement before officers can join politics… This is a dangerous situation now, we are seeing how ED and CBI officers are working like BJP workers,” said Awasthi.