Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and Inspector General (State Human Rights Commission) of Maharastha Abdur Rahman will be contesting in Lok Sabha polls from the Dhule constituency of Maharashtra on the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) tickets.
Rahman is a 1997 batch IPS officer who resigned from his post in 2019 as Inspector General in protest against the unconstitutional Citizen Amendment Act.
He was born on January 8, 1973, in Bihar, and holds a diverse educational background.
Former IPS completed his secondary education at Bipin High School, Bettiah, West Champaran, Bihar, followed by SSC from Science College Patna, Bihar. Rahman pursued a B. Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Kanpur, graduating in 1995.
Before resigning in 2019 Rahman also held several administrative positions in various parts of Maharashtra including Assistant Superintendent of Police in Latur, Superintendent of Police in Dhule, State Police Reserve Force, and Principal of Police training school in Solapur.
The dhule VBA candidate has been recognized with several awards and honours, including the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award and the Rajiv Gandhi Administrative Excellence Award from the Maharashtra Government.
He has also penned two books, one, ‘Denial and Deprivation: Indian Muslims after the Sachar Committee and Rangnath Mishra Commission Report ’ that talks about the current conditions of Indian Muslims concerning outcome indicators such as population, education, economy, poverty, and unemployment.
In his recently written book, “Absent in Politics and Power”, he has discussed the strategic political exclusion of Indian Muslims backed by data and facts.
Speaking to Maktoob, Rahman talking about his shift from administrative to executive said, “My secondary reason for resigning from the administrative position in 2019 was to be among people and do something for them. Electoral politics is the best way to reach out to the people by being among them, engaging with their problems, and addressing their diverse needs and aspirations.”
He said, “What all I could not do through my administrative position can be done through the executive position” and “The earlier position had its constraints but by being in a political position I can be among people without any restrictions.”
Having administrative expertise and political activism in Maharashtra’s democratic landscape, Rahman said that his candidacy promises the constituents of Dhule a vision of inclusive governance and progressive leadership.
When asked about choosing the Dhule constituency to contest elections he said, “I have a good understanding of the political and otherwise needs of Dhule’s population as I had spent a significant time of my life here when I was appointed as SP for two years from 2002 to 2004 and I think that experience would help me in the electoral process as well as people to choose the right candidate since they are aware of my work.”
The Dhule Lok Sabha constituency is spread over the districts of Dhule and Nashik and has six Assembly segments: Dhule Rural, Dhule City, Sindkheda, Malegaon Central, Malegaon Outer, and Baglan.
Rahman highlighted, “The Dhule Lok Sabha seat has 24 percent Muslim residents, 15 percent tribal and 7 percent Dalit population, despite having this many electoral votes, the representation is not even close to half. Only 5 seats are represented by these marginalized communities and this needs to be changed and marginalised communities should get their rightful share in the electoral positions. That is possible by contesting, if you will not contest, you will never know if you can win.”
Talking about the local and national issues he will be addressing, the former administrator said, “Locally and nationally the masses need to be educated about the misrule of Bhartiya Janata Party and Narendra Modi Government over the years and we will make sure that people not only get aware about it but also know about their rights and that who is worthy of being a leader.”
He said, “Bhartiya Janata Party has played with the sentiments of masses and has entirely failed on every. They have today demolished every constitutional institution. From executive, judiciary administrative, media, employment, education, women safety, and representation everything is in ruins and every front is suffering and this needs to be changed.”
On the local level, he said, “The major issues here are clean drinking water, sanitation, and the ever-pending railway line that will connect Dhule to Indore in Madhya Pradesh.”
The Manmad-Malegaon-Dhule-Indore railway line was long promised by the leaders who came and went, but Rahman now wants to turn it into reality.
Apart from these issues, he also wishes to construct more educational institutions and provide better employment opportunities for all. He also promises to look at the redressal of the tax paid by the people of the constituency.
Upon asking why he chose Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and not any other political party he said, “The VBA has a good support of Adivasis, tribal and Muslims and hence there is a good possibility of winning the seat with the given numbers of voters and my candidature won’t be wasted. Also, the party has a good vision and is celebrated among the population. So overall it’s a winning combination.”
