Former IAS officer Aparajita Sarangi on Tuesday joined the Bhartiya Janata Party in the presence of party president Amit Shah and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. According to Odishatv, Sarangi will contest from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha in the next general elections.
Sarangi, a 1994-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre, had applied for voluntary retirement this year in September. Her application for VRS was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 16. During her stint in Odisha, Sarangi served as the Secretary of School & Mass Education Department and Commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation.
The Times of India reports that the BJP may give her an important role in Odisha ahead of Lok Sabha polls in 2019. Speaking on the decision to join politics, Sarangi told the daily that she wanted to serve the people of the state.
The former IAS officer is married to Santosh Sarangi who is currently serving as Joint Secretary under the Union Commerce ministry. Since 2013, she was on central deputation and was supposed to return to Odisha this October. But she opted VRS, 11 years ahead of her superannuation.