Pancham Lal (born 1951) is a retired

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

cadre. Lal held the post of Principal Secretary (Parliamentary Affairs), in rank of Chief Secretary, in

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

.ZeeNews
'Nitish's development claims questionable'
/ref>''The Bihar Times''

/ref> During his administrative career, he faced opposition from several different Chief Ministers as he criticised corruption and criminal links of state ministers. Lal hails from

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and was a 1974 batch IAS officer.''Business Standard''
Caste matters for ex-officials in choosing Bihar seat (Election Special)
/ref>''Telegraph''
Saha leads race for IAS top job
/ref> In 2002, then the Commission in Saran division of Bihar, Lal was removed from his post after having labelled Indian politicians as "looters and a pack of liars" at a public function. The affair became front-page news in local newspapers in Bihar. According to Lal he had been provoked by politicians using a government function to make political speeches.''The Tribune''

/ref> In the midst of the controversy, Lok Janshakti Party leader

Ram Vilas Paswan Ram Vilas Paswan (5 July 19468 October 2020) was an Indian politician from Bihar and the Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the First Modi ministry, first and Second Modi ministry, second Modi ministries. Pasw ...

expressed support for Lal. In 2006 he alleged that two Bihar state legislators stormed his office and threatened to kill him unless he restored a motor vehicles inspector he had suspended. At the time Lal worked as Transport Commissioner. Lal retired from IAS on 31 August 2011. He caused controversy when stating that 90% of cases against

Naxalite Naxalism is the communist ideology of the Naxalites or Naxals, a grouping of political and insurgent groups from India. It is influenced by Maoist political sentiment and ideology. Inspired by Maoism, Charu Majumdar wrote the Historic Eight ...

s were false.''Indian Express''
Former bureaucrats line up for tickets in Bihar, Jharkhand
/ref> In a statement following his retirement, Lal rebutted claims of development under

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

's government in Bihar. He argued that " e present bureaucracy in Bihar is the most corrupt one in the history of the state ..Dalits have been the worst victim of the might of the state during the NDA rule and the people from downtrodden sections have been killed by the police in fake encounters or by painting them as the Maoists". Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election, he was mentioned as a potential

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

candidate in the Sasaram seat.''The New Indian Express''
Meira Kumar May Battle Two Ex-IAS Officers
/ref> In the end, he sided with the

All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a Left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a Political faction, faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and was strongest ...

and was declared as the candidate for the party in the Pataliputra seat on 18 March 2014. Commenting on his candidature, Lal stated that his foremost objective was not to win the Lok Sabha seat but "to raise the cause of the oppressed and weaker sections, who are exploited and victimized".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lal, Pancham All India Forward Bloc politicians Candidates in the 2014 Indian general election 1951 births Living people Indian Administrative Service officers