Bhubaneswar: As assumed, former Works secretary Nalini Kanta Pradhan joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here Friday.
Apart from Pradhan, former additional commissioner of Cuttack Municipal Corporation Ramesh Chandra Sai and Jaipal Nayak also joined the BJD camp at Naveen Niwas here. Also, one BJP and another Congress leader from western Odisha joined the ruling party.
Welcoming the new members into the party fold, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “I am sure that their joining will strengthen our party.”
The state government had granted one-year extension to Pradhan after his retirement. However, he resigned from the post February 28 citing personal reasons, a month before completion of the tenure of his extension.
Sources close to the BJD said that the party leadership is most likely to field Pradhan from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming elections.
“After my retirement, I was searching for a platform to serve the people and found that BJD is the right one to do so. I joined the party after getting inspired by the ideologies of the Chief Minister,” the former secretary said.
Sai, a former SC/ST Development department director, had taken VRS and jumped into politics. He might contest from Athamallik Assembly constituency in the upcoming polls, sources said.
Since many people believe that the image of some sitting MPs and MLAs of BJD has been tarnished after being drawn into chit fund and other scams in the state, the party is looking for new faces. Retired bureaucrats seem to be very much drawn towards the ruling dispensation for its style of functioning.
Earlier, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik and former Auditor General Amar Patnaik had joined the party and also are very keen to fight the upcoming elections.