Six officers who have retired after serving in the security forces for a long time have set their parliamentary journey.

While the former IGP duo of Sarbendra Khanal of the Rastriya Parivartan Party and Dhruv Bahadur Pradhan of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party who contested the election were defeated, officers from former Deputy Inspector General (SI) to former Additional Inspector General (AIG) who were contesting from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSWP) have won the House of Representatives member election.

Former AIG Bishwaraj Pokharel, former SSP Vikram Singh Thapa, former DSP Govinda Panthi, former SI Shambhu Dhakal (Suskera) and former Police Inspector Mohammad Firdos Alam and former Municipal Police Chief of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Rajunath Pandey have set their parliamentary journey. All of them have won from the RSWP. Former AIG Pokharel has been elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Okhaldhunga.

Pokharel was elected by defeating Congress candidate Kumar Luintel by 5 votes. Pokharel got 13,953 votes while his nearest rival Luintel got 13,948 votes. Pokharel, who entered the service as a police inspector in 2049 BS, retired in August 2079 BS due to the age limit of 56. Although Pokharel was the first in the IGP competition and was one and a half years senior in seniority, he was prevented from reaching the leadership after the then Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government appointed another AIG, Dhiraj Pratap Singh, as IGP in Baisakh. Pokharel retired from service 3 months later.

Pokharel last joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on December 12. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with the assurance of getting a ticket in the election, saying that the government had ‘implicated’ President Ravi Lamichhane in a cooperation case and that he would fight for justice. Pokharel's role has now entered the policy-making level with his victory in the last election.

Another former SSP of the police, Vikram Singh Thapa, has also been elected from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Elected with 27,635 votes, he defeated his nearest rival, Surendra Raj Acharya of the Congress, by a margin of 6,108 votes. Acharya got 21,535 votes.

Thapa, who joined the police service in Mangsir 2043, retired in Mangsir 2073 after 30 years of service. After retiring, Thapa joined the Congress and served in roles including a Mahasamiti member. He was in the competition from Lumbini for the Provincial Assembly seat in 2079. However, he was defeated.

Thapa, who joined the RSSS to participate in the last election, was elected as a member of the House of Representatives in his first attempt. Having built a strong character and a 'Singham' image while serving as the Chief of Police of various districts including Kathmandu, he is also known as an officer who efficiently performed his duties in various districts even during the armed conflict. Now, with 30 years of police experience, his role has entered that of a policymaker.

After his election, Kapilvastu SP Santosh Acharya congratulated Thapa and said, 'You were an excellent police officer earlier. Now you have become honorable. Do good and good work and be dedicated to the nation along with the people.' In response, Thapa said, 'I consider politics as a service. Earlier, I was connected to the people through the work of maintaining peace, security and peace, which is an integral part of social life. Now I want to connect with the people through politics.' He said that he would dedicate himself to the service of the people and the country in a different role in the coming days.

Another former police officer who will win from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is Govinda Panthi. Gulmi-2 candidate Panthi is a former DSP of the police. He retired in Bhadra 2081 after serving for 30 years and defeated UML's Gokarna Bista in the election held on Thursday. Panthi won with 16,967 votes, while his nearest rival Bista got 16,406 votes. Panthi also set his parliamentary journey by defeating Bista by a margin of 561 votes.

Panthi also joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ahead of the election. Another security officer who entered parliamentary responsibility from the RSS is Shambhu Dhakal (Suskera). Dhakal, who resigned from the post of Deputy Inspector General of Police (SI) five years ago, has been elected as a member of the House of Representatives from the RSSJPA-4.

He was also the secretary of the RSSJPA Jhapa and served for 22 years after joining the police service in 2055 BS. Dhakal, who became active as a founding member when Ravi Lamichhane formed the party in 2079, was also competing from the same constituency in the 2079 elections. At that time, he was defeated by UML's LP Sawa Limbu, and this time he avenged his previous defeat with a wide margin along with Limbu. While Dhakal got 46,631 votes, his nearest rival Limbu got only 11,986 votes.

Dhakal, who worked as a 'radio worker' while in the police, is also active in literature. Now, his public role will be as an MP. He argues that he resigned rather than take regular retirement to engage in social service through politics. ‘The main goal of resigning was to serve society through politics, that is why I joined politics from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). I was not successful in the previous election, but now the results are favorable. Now my only goal is to work for the country and the citizens as an MP,’ he said.

Another officer who suddenly resigned while serving as a security guard and joined the RSSS and won is Rajunath Pandey. Pandey, who was the chief of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Police Force, resigned to participate in the election.

When the then mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Balendra Shah, resigned and entered politics, Pandey also resigned from his post and joined the RSSS. He defeated Ujjaya Nepal Party chairman Kulman Ghising as a candidate for the House of Representatives in Kathmandu-3. As the chief of the Metropolitan Police, he was not spared by discussions and controversies. Pandey got 18,757 votes while his nearest rival Ghising got 11,171 votes.

Mohammad Firdos Alam, 39, elected from the Congress in Rautahat-2, is also a former police officer. Alam defeated Kiran Kumar Shah of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) in Rautahat-2. He defeated Shah by a margin of 11,086 votes, making him the first candidate for the parliamentary seat. Firdos got 29,528 votes while Shah got 18,442 votes.

Before entering politics full-time, he was a police inspector in the technical wing of the Nepal Police. He is the eldest son of former minister and late Congress leader Mohammad Aftab Alam. Firdos resigned from the police service in 2076 BS after his father was involved in a case of dereliction of duty in the Rajpur bomb case. He completed his MBBS from Pakistan.

Two former IGPs defeated

Former IGP Dhruv Bahadur West Nawalparasi-2 won the 2079 election from RPP. After retiring from IGP in 2054 BS, Pradhan continued to be active in party politics and contested the election.

Recently, in the 21 Falgun election, he suffered defeat. Pradhan, who was a candidate from the same constituency, was defeated by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) candidate Narendra Kumar Gupta. While Gupta got 44,138 votes, Pradhan came in fourth place with 4,691 votes.

Another former IGP, Sarbendra Khanal, was contesting the parliamentary election for the third time but could not succeed. Khanal, who contested the Kathmandu-6 by-election from UML in the 2079 BS election and the Tanahun-1 by-election in 2080, was defeated in both. This time, in Bara-4, Parivartan Party Nepal's candidate, he had to be defeated by Rahbar Ansari of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).