Kochi, Oct 1 (IANS) In a striking shift from the khaki of the Kerala Police to the khaki pants of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), former Director General of Police (DGP) Jacob Thomas on Wednesday formally joined the RSS as a full-time pracharak.

Thomas, 65, was officially inducted during the RSS padhasanchalan (route march) at Pallikkara in Ernakulam district on Wednesday, where he appeared in the RSS’s traditional uniform, known as Ganavesham.

The retired officer recently revealed that his association with the RSS dated back decades and that he had maintained close ties with its leadership, including sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat.

He was particularly attracted to the discipline and selfless service of the cadre to the nation, as he feels no other organisation in the world shows such dedication and devotion.

Thomas had earlier expressed his desire to work full-time as a pracharak and would leave it to the organisation to decide how his services should be utilised.

Once a trusted aide of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Thomas was appointed Director of Vigilance on the very day Vijayan assumed office in 2016.

However, their relationship soured by 2018, leading to his suspension from service twice.

Though later reinstated, he was shunted to head a near-defunct state public sector unit, Kerala State Metal Industries Ltd, Shoranur.

On the eve of his retirement on May 31, 2020, Thomas spent the night sleeping on the floor of his office, a symbolic act that made headlines.

Post-retirement, Thomas joined the BJP and contested the Irinjalakuda Assembly constituency in 2021, securing around 33,000 votes.

He finished third, while the winner, R. Bindhu of the CPI(M), went on to become the state’s Higher Education Minister.

With his formal induction into the RSS, Jacob Thomas’s political and ideological journey has taken a decisive turn from policing the state in khaki to embracing the Ganavesham of the Sangh.

–IANS

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