Raipur Collector resigns to join BJP

Raipur district Collector O P Choudhary has confirmed his resignation through his Facebook post.

As per political sources, Choudhary is expected to join the BJP.

He was to be inducted to the party in the presence of BJP president Amit Shah at an event in Raipur but due to the demise of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee the event was cancelled.

Meanwhile, state government has deputed Deepak Soni, chief executive officer of zila panchayat, to take additional charge as the Raipur collector.

Owing to the weekend, the Election Commission of India (EC) was not able to give permission for the appointment of a new collector due to which the government order could not be released.

It is to be noted that during elections, the state government has to clear all top level appointments through the EC.

According to sources, Choudhary, a 2005 batch IAS officer, had submitted his resignation to the chief secretary on August 16.

It is said that he had a discussion with Chief Minister Raman Singh, following which the resignation letter was forwarded to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on August 17.

As Choudhary's resignation had been accepted, he could not attend a video-conference of the EC with the district electoral officers.

Choudhary in his Facebook post says: “From the streets of Bayang village to become Raipur Collector, the trip took 13 years of life which provided me many challenges in life. During this trip thousands of people have been with me directly and indirectly, feeling gratitude towards them, does not have any words in Hindi vocabulary, and there would be shortage for it. Now, I want to dedicate my complete time for my soil and its people’s betterment. Therefore, I had given my resignation as IAS. Jai-Hind, Jai-Chhattisgarh…”