Many retired State Government officials under the leadership of former secretary general of Odisha Karmachari Sangram Samiti Nalini Ranjan Pati joined the Congress in the presence of PCC president Jayadev Jena at the party office here on Thursday.
Those who joined the grand old party are former Joint Secretary Akshay Kumar Behera, Santosh Kumar Mohanty, Biswanath Muduli, Umakant Mohapatra, Susant Behera and Pradipta Behera. This apart, many of their supporters too joined the party. Welcoming them to the party fold, Jena said it would strengthen the party organisation on the eve of the elections.