MUMBAI: Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey, who was arrested in 2022 in connection with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) co-location scam, officially joined the Congress party. Pandey whose induction comes just ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, was welcomed into the Congress by Mumbai unit chief and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad at the party office in South Mumbai in the presence of several senior Congress leaders, including AICC secretary U.B. Venkatesh.

On his joining the Congress, Pandey emphasized his belief in secular values and described the Congress as a family-like atmosphere. He said, "I am not joining a party but a family. I wanted to join the Congress way back in 2004 but didn’t get the chance.” 

Pandey also criticized the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the government was using legal cases to intimidate the public. He highlighted his commitment to addressing the misuse of central agencies and protecting the interests of ordinary citizens and voiced confidence in the Congress party's potential to regain power in Maharashtra, suggesting that the current saffron alliance would struggle to secure a majority in the upcoming elections.

Despite this controversy, Pandey had openly expressed his political ambitions, previously announcing plans to contest from the Versova assembly seat on his own outfit but now he could be a potential candidate for the Congress party from that constituency. 

Pandey, a 1986-batch IPS officer and an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, previously served as the acting Director General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra and was a prominent figure during the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2022 for his alleged involvement in the illegal phone tapping of NSE employees as the tapping was said to be linked to a security services company that was founded by him.