Ex-DGP Prakash Mishra Joins BJP

Bhubaneswar: Former Director General of Police (DGP) of Odisha Prakash Mishra formally joined the BJP on Sunday.

Mishra joined the saffron party at a function held at the party office in presence of senior leaders, including Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Damodar Rout, Biswabhusan Harichandan and Samir Dey.

Speaking on the occasion, Mishra said the governance of Odisha during the tenure of the BJD government has gone down to the meanest level. The ruling party has pushed the future of the state into vortex of uncertainty, he added.

Mishra said he decided to join the BJP having been immensely influenced by the ideals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who always thinks about the development of the country and its security.

The former DGP is the second high-profile former bureaucrat to embrace the Lotus party after Aparajita Sarangi, whom the party has fielded from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat. He might contest the upcoming polls from Cuttack Lok Sabha seat.

As DGP, Mishra is credited for successful handling of certain anti-Maoist operations and peaceful conduct of simultaneous polls in 2014.

An IPS officer of the 1977 batch, his relationship with the ruling BJD, however, has been tumultuous. The state government refused to relieve Mishra for central deputation after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh sought him for the post of special secretary in MHA. He was instead shunned to a relatively inconsequential post of CMD of the Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC).

The Odisha government also slapped a vigilance case on him, weeks ahead of the selection of CBI chief, spoiling his chances of getting the top post, in April 2015. The Orissa High Court, however, later quashed the case against Mishra, who was then the CRPF DG.

Four months after he retired, Odisha government in 2016 finally dropped the departmental proceedings against the IPS officer over allegations that he had regularized ad hoc services of eight peons and a watchman of a police organisation without approval of its Board of Directors.