Former Odisha chief secretary Bijay Patnaik, who worked closely with chief minister Naveen Patnaik between 2004 and 2013, joined the Congress in New Delhi on Friday, alleging that the state was mired in violence, misgovernance and corruption.
The former bureaucrat joined the Congress in presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Odisha in-charge A Chellakumar and said he was inspired by the recent Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“The administration has failed to reach out to the common people, who are unable to decide who to approach as nobody knows from who to seek help, be it MLAs or ministers. This needs to change and I will certainly work in this regard. There is a need to repose faith in democracy again in Odisha,” said Patnaik, who retired from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2013.
Once considered to be close to Naveen Patnaik, the former bureaucrat was sidelined after CM’s private secretary V K Pandian joined the chief minister’s office (CMO) in 2011. After his retirement, he was appointed as a member of the Odisha Staff Selection Committee and then Odisha Human Rights Commission. Later, he joined as head of the Vedanta University project and continued there till 2017.
He said till he was in the government, he was not inclined towards any party.
“When I started my service, it was the Congress that was in power. But the recent Bharat Jodo Yatra has inspired a lot of people including me. Today, I have joined the Congress and thank Rahul Gandhi and others who encouraged me to join politics. I will continue to work ahead in politics with whatever experience I have acquired in my service career of over 40 years,” he said.
“We will certainly work to create a vibrant Congress in Odisha. At present, people do not know who to approach to get their grievances redressed. We want to ensure that faith is restored in democracy,” said Patnaik.