Former IAS Officer Jagdish Mohanty Joins Congress

Bhubaneswar: At a time when several senior leaders of Odisha Congress have either left the party or been sacked, former IAS officer Jagdish Chandra Mohanty joined the party here on Friday.

Mohanty, a former 1985 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, said that time has come for people with the intention to serve the country to come forward and join politics.

"I had a dream to work for the people of Odisha staying here. Today, I have got the opportunity. It's time intellectuals and good people come forward and join politics lest the State turns a hub of hooligans," said Mohanty, adding that people should never shy away from joining politics.

Earlier on Friday, Odisha’s former finance minister Panchanan Kanungo also joined Congress in presence of AICC president Rahul Gandhi at a Parivartan Sankalpa Samabesha in the Capital city. Kanungo was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik government from August 2002 to May 2004.