Devyani’s father to contest LS elections

Uttam Khobragade, the retired IAS officer and father of diplomat Devyani Khobragade who returned to India last week after being indicted for visa fraud in the US, said Wednesday he would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“My decision to join politics is nothing new. In the past, several parties offered me ticket to contest elections. Since I was in government service, I could not contest. Now that I am retired, I would like to fight polls,” Khobragade said. But he refused to say whether there is a concrete proposal before him from any political party.

Sources in the Republican Party of India (Athawale) said though there were talks earlier, the matter had not been raised by the party after developments related to Devyani. A party spokesperson said Khobragade had expressed his desire to work for the organisation, but a final decision was still pending.