Who is Ajay Kumar Singh? Meet new DGP of poll-bound Jharkhand appointed by Election Commission

The Election Commission of India on Monday approved Ajay Kumar Singh for appointment as Director General of Police (DGP) of poll-bound Jharkhand.

The 1989-batch cop is the senior most India Police Service (IPS) officer in the cadre, news agency PTI said.

The appointment comes days after the poll panel removed Anurag Gupta as the the acting police chief of the state that is going to assembly polls in two phases – November 13 and 20.

Who is Ajay Kumar Singh?

1989- batch IPS officer Ajay Kumar Singh was posted as the MD-cum-DG Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Police Housing in Jharkhand before becoming the DGP.

Singh has also served in CID, Special Branch, Railways in the state as Additional Director General (ADG). Before becoming ADG, Singh o served as SP in many districts including Hazaribagh and Dhanbad.

In his 32-year police career, Singh has also been the SP of cities like Muzaffarpur, Lakhisarai, Purnia, Munger in Bihar. His first posting was in 1991 as ASP in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand.

Singh was selected from the panel of three IPS officers sent by the state government after the poll panel ordered immediate removal of acting DGP Anurag Gupta on October 19 due to his history of election related misconduct in previous elections.

The Jharkhand government had appointed Singh as the interim DGP on Saturday.

The 81 assembly seats of Jharkhand will vote in two phases next month. In the 2019 Assembly Elections,Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) emerged as the largest party with 30 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged 25 seats, and the Congress won 16 seats. Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) got 3 seats while All Jharkhand Students Union won two.

Hemant Soren became the Chief Minister. 

The BJP on Saturday released its first list of 66 candidates for the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections.

The saffron party is contesting on 68 of the 81 assembly seats in the state, leaving the rest for its NDA allies - All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).