After opting VRS, Will Aparajita Sarangi foray into active politics?

Bhubaneswar: A day after the Prime Minister’s Office approved the VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) application of Senior IAS Officer Aparajita Sarangi, speculation is now rife on whether she will be foraying into active politics in Odisha.

As per official sources, Sarangi, a 1994-batch Odisha Cadre IAS Officer, was on central deputation since 2013. She was supposed to return to Odisha in October but applied for VRS in September this year.

Though Sarangi is yet to clear the air regarding her next venture, speculation is rife that she might join politics ahead of the crucial 2019 elections.

BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra today asserted that party supremo Naveen Patnaik will consider if Aparajita Sarangi wishes to join the regional party.

"Several people including former bureaucrats are joining several parties after their VRS. Let she (Aparajita Sarangi) clear her intention and if she applies, our party will certainly consider," said Mishra.

It will be too early to predict what impact Sarangi's joining politics will have, he added.

BJP leader Pradip Purohit, on the other hand, informed that the party will welcome Aparajita Sarangi, who is known as a pro-people IAS officer. "From media we have learnt that Aparajita Sarangi is keen to join BJP and if she applies, the State leadership will take a final decision," said Purohit.

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Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati took a dig at both BJD and BJP and alleged that there is a competition among them to induct IAS and IPS officers into the party fold.

"Congress is a party of the common man. But BJD and BJP want to govern by inducting bureaucrats into their respective parties," said Bahinipati.