New MP Ajoy Kumar is mobbed by supporters outside the counting centre at Jamshedpur Co-operative College after the bypoll results were declared on Monday evening andPictures by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, July 4: As East Singhbhum SP, he weeded out crime. As Jamshedpur MP, he wants to stem corruption.

After catapulting himself to national politics with his phenomenal by-election victory, Ajoy Kumar pledged honesty to the people of his constituency and said he would go the whole hog to ensure holistic development of both urban and rural pockets, leaving no scope for anomalies.

In his new avatar, the 49-year-old former supercop drew up an exhaustive to-do list on roads, ration cards, education and electricity, projects he means to take up “in the right earnest” during his short stint of two and a half years in Parliament.

“Fulfilling hopes and aspirations within limited time will be a daunting task. But then, the people of this city are aware of my short tenure and will appreciate whatever I do if I do it honestly and sincerely,” the CEO of Max Neeman Medical International, Delhi, told The Telegraph.

Listing his priorities, Ajoy Kumar said his first move would be making distribution of ration cards to BPL families a corruption-free process.

“My party will ensure that PDS benefits reach every doorstep. Efforts will be made at the block level. I will stay in Delhi for three days in a week and give four days to Jamshedpur. I will be honest and work sincerely to serve the people. I will make it a point to visit every panchayat of my constituency once every three months,” he said before collecting his victory certificate from deputy commissioner-cum-returning officer Himani Pande.

For a man on the academic zenith with an MBBS degree from JIPMER, Pondicherry, and an MBA degree from Pondicherry University, it is little surprise that education too figured high on his priority list. Ajoy Kumar promised to hold dialogues with corporate bigwigs for and persuade private cradles like Symbiosis, Kalinga Institute and Amity University to set up branches in the steel city.

The new MP also promised to provide basic amenities like road, electricity and medicines in the rural hinterland. “Each area has its own unique problem. I will visit every pocket, extensively interact with the local people to know their grouses and then, initiate measures to redress them,” he said.

His maiden move as an MP proved that he was a man of his word. Immediately after taking his certificate from Pande, Ajoy Kumar rushed to Sarjamda in Parsudih, some 20km from the city, to meet the bereaved family members of a child, Ganesh Haiburu, who was killed in a freak accident involving a JVM campaign vehicle on June 29.

“I have come to know that he was the only child. I will like to provide his parents jobs either with an NGO (Adarsh Seva Sansthan at Sonari) or with some corporate firm. I wish to help them in whatever way I can,” he said.

Earlier, he had promised financial help to Ganesh’s family, but had expressed his inability to do so immediately because the model code of conduct was in force.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Embroiled in a bitter row over his alleged conversation with a Maoist leader, Ajoy Kumar regretted the CD slur levelled by BJP. “I am new to politics and never thought it can stoop to such level. I have filed an FIR against BJP leaders and will also move the high court for a high-level inquiry into the entire episode so that things are transparent for the people,” he signed off.