Officers' choice: Phagwara favourite among ex-babus

Ashok Kaura

Phagwara, January 28

Mostly bureaucrats (IAS officers) love to enter politics by contesting the election from the Phagwara assembly constituency (Reserve).

After Som Parkash (BJP) and Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal (INC), now it was the turn of Khushi Ram, IAS (retd), who entered politics in Phagwara and has been declared a candidate from the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha.

He is the third IAS officer who preferred Phagwara for contesting the assembly election. Som Prakash (retired as IAS) had been elected an MLA twice from this important constituency on a BJP ticket. On the other hand, Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal (former IAS) is a sitting MLA from the Congress who won the bypoll two and a half years ago when then MLA Som Parkash contested and won the Lok Sabha election and now enjoying a Union Minister’s status.

The seat was vacant, then Dhaliwal entered the poll fray and defeated BJP candidate Rajesh Bagha by a big margin of more than twentytwo thousand votes. Now the Samyukta Samaj Morcha has declared Khushi Ram (a former IAS officer) as its candidate from this constituency.

Notably, Khushi Ram has been SDM of this city and has served as the Deputy Commissioner in several cities, including Hoshiarpur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar. He has also been Head of various departments. He was the chairman of the IAS Association for Dalits and had received a special award for good performance from the Central Government. Som Parkash IAS (Retd) has served as the Deputy Commissioner of Faridkot, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar and has also held posts like the Labour Commissioner, Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) chief administrator, managing director of the Punjab Financial Corporation and director of the Social Security Department before joining politics in Phagwara.

Similarly, sitting MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal (a former IAS officer) remained the Deputy Commissioner at different places, worked as the SDM, Phagwara, and was Director, Land Records, Jalandhar, before joining politics in the year 2019.

Now, Khushi Ram to contest poll from town

Khushi Ram, IAS (retd), has been declared a candidate from the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha. He is the third IAS officer who preferred Phagwara for contesting the assembly election. Som Prakash (retired as IAS) had been elected an MLA twice from here on a BJP ticket. On the other hand, Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal (former IAS) is a sitting MLA from the Congress who won the bypoll two-and-a-half-years ago when then Som Parkash contested and won the Lok Sabha election