Doctor rejoins service after poll loss; nurse not so lucky

JAIPUR: His dream to serve the people of Dungarpur by becoming their voice in the assembly dashed by electorate, Dr Deepak Ghogra, a gynaecologist, has gone back to serving patients at the district hospital.
Dr Ghogra, who had secured special permission from the Jodhpur bench of RajasthanHC to contest the polls and, if defeated, rejoin government services, reached the health directorate in Jaipur on Tuesday to reclaim his position at the hospital.He contested from the Dungarpur constituency on a Bharatiya Tribal Party ticket and lost. “I met director (public health), Dr Ravi Prakash Mathur, so that I could rejoin the government duty, obeying the HC order,” said Dr Ghogra. Banshilal Katara, a nurse at the same hospital, was not that lucky. Having resigned to contest as a BJP candidate from the same seat, he suffered poll reverses and lost his job. A Congress candidate won the seat.
Ghogra was the only government doctor to contest the assembly polls. Usually, if a government employee wishes to contest elections, he has to take VRS. It was a rare case where HC permitted a government doctor to rejoin services. Dr Ghogra, who belongs to a ST community, has been working at the Dungarpur district hospital since 2014. The 43-year-old did his MBBS and PG in gynaecology from RNT Medical College in Udaipur.
Despite suffering the poll reverse, Dr Ghogra has not lost hope. “I wanted to serve the people by reaching the state assembly, but I did not get the support. I will continue serving people as a doctor in the government hospital. But, if I get a chance again to fight elections, I will take it up. The loss has not disheartened me,” he said.