Bhim Sain Bassi, who is the former Delhi Police Commissioner, is reportedly being considered for the post of Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, although the government is "bit wary", sources told IANS. Incidentally, Bhim Sain Bassi's five-year tenure at the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will end on February 28.
The Puducherry Lt Governor post was left vacant after former IPS officer cop Kiran Bedi was removed from the post on February 16 this year. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has been given the additional charge of Puducherry.
Before joining as a UPSC member, Bassi, a 1977-batch Indian Police Service (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 SN Shrivastava, the current Commissioner of Delhi Police, when he was heading the force.
Kiran Bedi was removed as Puducherry Lt Governor 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 Kiran Bedi. This is a great victory for the people of Puducherry."
However, 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, Kiran Bedi was appointed Puducherry's 24th Lt Governor on May 28, 2016. Kiran 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. YS Dadwal was made the Commissioner of Delhi Police. She termed Dadwal appointment as "blatantly unfair" and vowed to fight the "injustice" done to her.
Reported by Sumit Kumar Singh