‘Panchang’ fame ex-DGP joins BJP

Vijaya Kumar is the second former DGP to join the saffron party after Brij Lal, who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP. In the 2022 UP assembly elections, two other police officers, Asim Arun and Rajeshwar Singh, also won elections from the Kannauj and Sarojini Nagar seats, respectively.

LUCKNOW: Former director general of police Vijaya Kumar whose ‘panchang’ circular to his subordinates to control crime got much traction on both social and mainstream media, joined the BJP along with his wife Anupama in Lucknow on Monday.

Former DGP Vijaya Kumar (seated next to deputy CM Brajesh Pathak) joins BJP in Lucknow on Monday. (HT photo)

Kumar, a 1988 batch police officer of the Indian Police Service (IPS), joined the BJP a little over two months after retiring as the DGP on January 31. He is the second former DGP after Brij Lal to have joined the saffron party in UP.

Brij Lal, who joined in 2015, is now a Rajya Sabha MP. Two other police officers, former IPS Asim Arun, who joined the BJP ahead of the 2022 UP polls and won from Kannauj, is now a social welfare minister in Yogi Adityanath government, while Rajeshwar Singh, who was with the enforcement directorate, also resigned from service to win his first election on the BJP symbol from Sarojini Nagar assembly constituency.

The highlight of Kumar’s eight-month tenure as DGP was his circular accompanied with a copy of ‘panchang’ to subordinate cops in August 2023, directing police officers across the state to intensify patrolling during darker nights when criminal gangs are most active, had got much traction on media. The ‘panchang’ is a lunisolar calendar that uses standard Hindu timekeeping units and displays important dates and periods.

In his circular, Kumar also ordered the cops to remain alert on ‘Amavasya’ (no moon day and the darkest night of the lunar month), attracting diverse comments on social media.

Soon after joining the BJP, Kumar, who hails from Jhansi, said that he and his wife came from non-political backgrounds. However, he mentioned that since serving the society was a common goal in both policing and politics, they decided to take the plunge.

“Definitely, under the BJP, the focus on crime and law and order is more intense,” Kumar said when asked if he witnessed any difference in the functioning of various party governments he served under during his tenure as DGP.

He didn’t quite clarify whether he was aiming to contest elections or merely serve the party bu said that he would serve in any capacity assigned to him by the party. Kumar also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Several others, including former lawmakers and leaders of various parties, also joined the BJP on the occasion.