TNI Bureau: Former Odisha Chief Secretary Bijay Patnaik joined the Congress party at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in New Delhi today.

The 1976-batch IAS officer joined the grand old party in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Odisha Congress in-charge A. Chellakumar, OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak and other senior and heavyweight leaders. He also met senior leader Rahul Gandhi.

After joining the part, Patnaik slammed Odisha Government saying government is not reaching out to common people and there is bad governance in Odisha.

“Change is must and domestic values to be established in the State and I will do something for Odisha,” he said.

Bijay Patnaik was the Chief Secretary of Odisha between 2010 and 2013. He was also the Secretary of the Forest and Water Resources Department of the Odisha government before becoming the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in 2004 to 2010.

After his retirement in 2013, Odisha government appointed him as the Chairman of the Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) for a year from 2013 to 2014 and member of the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) in 2014.