B.S. Bassi’s UPSC tenure to end, in line for Puducherry Lt Gov?

By Sumit Kumar Singh

New Delhi, Feb 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former Delhi Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi is being considered for the post of Lt Governor of Puducherry but the government is "bit wary", sources said.

The post fell vacant after incumbent, former top cop Kiran Bedi was suddenly removed on February 16 this year. Bassi's five year tenure at the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will end on February 28.

Before joining as a UPSC member, Bassi, a 1977 batch IPS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, headed the Delhi Police from August 2013 to February 2016 and had a controversial tenure with frequent run-ins with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government.

Bassi's tenure, especially towards the end, had come for criticism after the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar over the sedition row.

Bassi also had been "considered" to replace current Delhi Lt Governor, Anil Baijal but "nothing materialised", sources said. They said that he did not have a good working relationship with 1985 batch IPS officer S.N. Shrivastava, the current Commissioner of Delhi Police, when he was heading the force.

Bedi was suddenly removed as Puducherry Lt Governor on February 16 this year, and Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan was given additional charge of the Union Territory.

Bedi's removal came as the Congress-led government in the Union Territory slipped into a minority after another of its legislators resigned, reducing its tally in the assembly.

Bedi was long at loggerheads with Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy. After she was removed, Narayanasamy had said, "Due to pressure from us, the Government of India has removed Dr Kiran Bedi. This is a great victory for the people of Puducherry." But on February 23 this year, the Narayanasamy government fell as he resigned ahead of the confidence vote in the Assembly with the coalition ministry reduced to a minority.

The country's first woman IPS officer and BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate in Delhi in 2015, Bedi was appointed Puducherry's 24th Lt Governor on May 28, 2016. Bedi, a 1972 batch AGMUT cadre and due to retire in 2009, quit in 2007 when she was serving as Director-General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development after 1974 batch officer Y.S. Dadwal was made the Commissioner of Delhi Police. She termed Dadwal appointment as "blatantly unfair" and vowed to fight the "injustice" done to her.

(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)

Source: IANS