Tamil by birth, Haryanvi at heart, ex-IPS officer sets mind on polls

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, March 18

Having served in Haryana for around three decades, the Tamil Nadu-born retired Indian Police Service officer V Kamaraja is keen on entering the political arena here.

Kamaraja, a 1987-batch Haryana-cadre officer who retired as Additional Director General of Police in 2015, has been aspiring for the BJP ticket from the Sirsa (reserved) constituency.

Justifying his decision to enter politics in a state where he is likely to face language barriers, he says: “Ye dil ka aavaz hai (my heart says I should go ahead with this).”

Kamaraja remained posted in Sirsa, Mahendergarh, Rewari and Rohtak during 28 years of service.

Hailing from Dindigul district in TN, he returned to his native place after superannuation and was engaged in agricultural activity and legal consultancy there. Having done LLB and LLM from Kurukshetra University, he is now pursuing his PhD.

His name has been doing the rounds in Haryana BJP circles for quite some time now. He was in Sirsa last week, trying to test waters for his political aspirations.

“Though I was born and brought up in Tamil Nadu, I consider myself a Haryanvi at heart. People’s love is pulling me back to Haryana and inspiring me to lead an active public life,” he says. He might not be able to speak in chaste Haryanvi, but can surely understand and effectively communicate in that language, he adds.

“If I get a chance, I will make the most of it. If somebody else gets the ticket, I will happily discharge any other role the party assigns. One thing is sure that I will remain active in Haryana now,” he says.

A 62-year-old Sirsa-based doctor recalls the nine months of Kamaraja as SP, Traffic, in the town in 1990. “He was able to win hearts of the people in a short span of time. Even the youngsters used to talk about his style of policing those days,” he says.

Second after Agnivesh

• If Kamaraja succeeds, he will be the second person from a southern state to establish himself in Haryana politics

• In 1977, Swami Agnivesh (Vepa Shyam Rao from Andhra) served as minister in Bhajan Lal cabinet

• Kamaraja, meanwhile, has been put on notice for code violation over his press meet at PWD rest house