BHUBANESWAR: Former state works secretary Nalini Kant Pradhan took plunge into politics on Friday as he joined the ruling
BJD
in presence of party president and chief minister
Naveen Patnaik
at Naveen Niwas.
Party sources said Pradhan is likely to be fielded as BJD’s Lok Sabha candidate from Sambalpur parliamentary segment; which is currently being held by BJD’s Nagendra Pradhan.
Welcoming him to the party, the chief minister said his joining will strengthen BJD in the region.
In his reaction, Pradhan said the simplicity, discipline and progressive ideas of chief minister for development of
“As an administrator, I have worked under the chief minister. After joining the party, I can continue to serve people of our region,” said Pradhan.
A resident of Athamallik area in Angul district, Pradhan said though he has not received any indication from the leadership to fight the forthcoming polls; he has evinced his interest to fight the poll if given a chance.
After serving as state’s work secretary for more than five years; Pradhan, a 1980-batch civil engineer, resigned from service on February 27, nearly a month before completion of his one-year extension period. He got one-year extension after retirement from service in March 2018.
By fielding Pradhan from the seat; the ruling dispensation plans to garner support of ‘chasa’ community, who has significant presence in four of the seven assembly seats under the Sambalpur Lok Sabha segment. More than 50 per cent population in Athamallik, Chendipada, Rairakhol and Deogarh assembly constituencies belong to ‘chasa’ community.
With both the BJP and Congress emerge stronger in Sambalpur region, the BJD plans to gain by roping in fresh, non-controversial and soft-spoken face like Pradhan.
Despite being considered as one of the confidant officers of the state government, during his stint as state’s work secretary; Pradhan had received criticisms from political parties over a series of collapses of under-construction bridges. He also received flak over inordinate delay in implementation of Bomikhal road over-bridge and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose bridge connecting Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
His role was also equally crucial in successful completion of nearly 1-km long Gurupriya bridge in the Maoist-affected Malkangiri district that provided connectivity to 151 villages in the cut-off areas. Pradhan successfully implemented Biju Expressway (Rourkela-Bargarh) stretch and successfully taken up several bridge projects over Mahanadi in Sambalpur and Cuttack districts.
When contacted, the Sambalpur MP declined to comment anything on Pradhan’s joining in the party.
