Mumbai: Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and retired IPS officer Sanjay Pandey has taken the plunge into politics by joining the Congress party. He is likely to contest the upcoming Assembly elections, with the party considering a constituency in Mumbai that has a large North Indian voter base for him to represent.
He joined the party on Wednesday in the presence of Maharashtra Congress incharge Ramesh Chennithala and Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad.
A graduate of IIT-Kanpur and a 1986 batch IPS officer, Pandey was appointed as Mumbai Police Commissioner on February 18, 2022. Pandey was arrested by the CBI in September 2022 in connection with an alleged phone-tapping case and was later granted bail by the Delhi High Court.
Pandey had earlier announced his intention to contest from the Versova assembly seat in Mumbai and even launched his own political party, the Rashtriya Janhit Party.
He had also considered running in the recent Lok Sabha elections, eyeing the Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North West constituencies, but eventually decided against it.
While joining the party he said, “I have been considering entering active politics for a long time, but this time I've made up my mind to contest the Assembly election from the constituency where I have lived for several years. Support from all sections is welcome.”
