Hyderabad: Putting rumors to rest, former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar, announced at a public meeting in Nalgonda on Sunday that he would be entering politics by joining the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The bureaucrat who had taken voluntary retirement recently stated that his main focus will be on solidifying the BSP in Telangana and that he would make a foray into national politics if the party deemed him fit. Discussing social justice, he remarked that social justice is an involved endeavor unlike “paying floral tributes to statues and schemes like Dalit Bandhu which are election gimmicks”.
In the past, Kumar has headed the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) which in turn aided students from SC and ST communities to excel in academics and sports.
While political analysts have remarked that it is too early to decide if Kumar’s entry into the BSP will be received favorably by the SC communities, the announcement finally put to rest the rumor that the officer was starting a party of his own.
Praveen Kumar in his speech also said that his objective “is working towards achieving social justice in a complete form, equal opportunities for all and the protection of Constitutional rights and values”.
The former IPS officer is widely known for his work with Dalit and Tribal (SC/ST) community students who are enrolled in Telangana’s residential welfare schools (and earlier in the joint Andhra Pradesh state). He gave the students a unique name – Swaeros.
The “sw” in Swaero stands for social welfare, while the word “aero” refers to the sky, suggesting that sky is the limit for them. Kumar, a native of Karimnagar district, decided to work with SC/ST students in the TSWRIES instead of continuing within the state’s police department as well. His last position in the police was as a Joint Commissioner (Special Branch).