New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer and actor, Abhishek Singh, who was removed by the Election Commission from the role of a general observer of Gujarat assembly polls Friday, allegedly for posting some images on social media, told ThePrint Saturday that he was “okay” with the decision.
“I am okay with the decision,” Singh told ThePrint, adding that he got the official communication from the election body Friday and that his current position as IAS officer was still intact. Singh is serving as deputy commissioner of Delhi.
The IAS officer-actor had been appointed general observer for the Bapunagar and Asarwa constituencies in Gujarat, ahead of next month’s elections. He was allegedly removed for using Instagram to “share his posting” and using his official position as a “publicity stunt”. according to a strongly-worded letter reportedly written by the EC to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Gujarat.
He had been appointed for the role on 7th November. Singh has also been reportedly barred from any other election-related duties till further order.
Hours after news of the decision started doing the rounds of the media, Singh, a 2011-batch officer, took to Twitter to say that he believed “nothing was wrong in the post”.
“A public servant, in a car bought by public money, reporting for public duty, with public officials, communicating it to the public. It is neither publicity nor a stunt!” he wrote.
Joined Ahmedabad as Observer for Gujarat Elections#Election2022 #GujaratElections2022 #NoVoterTobeleftBehindNovember pic.twitter.com/VRHUfxuqCI
— Abhishek Singh (@Abhishek_asitis) November 17, 2022
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Officer, star, social worker
Singh is reportedly from a small-town, middle-class family.
He left a mark on the audience, when he played himself in the second season of the hit Netflix series, Delhi Crime earlier this year. Former Delhi chief secretary, Vijay Dev, had reportedly allowed him to take up the job as long as it didn’t affect his work.
That wasn’t the IAS officer’s first brush with acting, however. Singh had already starred in a short film Chaar Pandrah in 2020, after he shot to fame for lip-syncing and acting in a video of the viral T-Series song, Dil Tod Ke.
“Everyone is a hero… When we are in front of the mirror in our room, we are thinking of ourselves as heroes. It’s just a matter of getting a chance, I got it,” he had earlier told ThePrint.
The IAS officer-actor has featured in many hit music videos of songs by famous singers like Badshah, Seerat Kapoor and Jubin Nautiyal, among others.
He has about three million followers on Instagram, where he is seen posing with a number of celebrities, both from the political and Bollywood fraternity. Some of those he has shared frames with include former president Ram Nath Kovind and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and actors Sarah Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt.
Singh has also used his public appeal for social causes and is the president of Saviour Foundation — an organisation dedicated to “serving the underprivileged, providing a safe haven for mistreated animals, and making every possible effort to protect the environment”, which he founded in 2018.
He also initiated #NoShameMovement to support women who have been victims of non-consensual sharing of intimate photos, in response to this year’s Chandigarh University MMS incident. The endeavour was also endorsed by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.
“We will have dedicated helplines where students can contact us. We will also start a chat group where all those who are either suffering from some grievance or those who feel for the cause, can come forward and speak up and discuss,” he had announced at the time.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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