Former Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra joins BJP

Former IPS officer Prakash Mishra, who served as Odisha General of Police (DGP) joined the Bhartiya Janata Party.The BJP is likely to field Mishra as its candidate from Cuttack for the general elections.

Bhubaneswar: Retired IPS officer Prakash Mishra whose removal as Odisha police chief in 2014 had triggered a major controversy joined the BJP on Sunday ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state.

Mishra, who served as Odisha DGP from 2012 to 2014, joined the saffron party in the presence of senior leaders, including Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BiswaBhushan Harichandan and Damodar Rout at the party's state headquarters here.

Mishra's entry into the BJP comes amid speculations that he may be fielded as the saffron party's candidate from Cuttack Lok Sabha seat. The former IPS officer, who had also served as the CRPF DG for about two years from 2014 to 2016, said he had no plan to join politics, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi style of working highly impressed him.

PM Modi is concerned for the country's security and India's response to Pulwama terror strike was befitting, Mishra said. Regarding Odisha, Mishra, said "Governance in the state has touched a new low. It is time to build a new Odisha by changing the government."

Mishra had been removed as the Odisha Police chief in July 2014 and a vigilance case was slapped against him in September 2014. The Orissa high court, however, quashed the charges against Mishra in June 2015. The BJP and the Congress had lashed out at the BJD government accusing it of harassing an honest police officer by slapping a fabricated case against him.