Berhampur: Former Union minister Chandrasekhar Sahu, along with several other former Congress leaders, on Wednesday formally joined the BJD at a function in presence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Other leaders, who joined the BJD, along with their 20,000 supporters, included former Ganjam district Congress committee president Bhagaban Gantayat, former youth Congress leader and AICC member Bikram Panda, former Berhampur town president Sanjit Panigrahi and Banamali Sethi, who was the Congress candidate from the Chhatrapur Assembly seat.

At another function, 10 councillors of the municipal corporation belonging to the Congress joined the BJD. After the resignation of one councillor and the 10 councillors joining the ruling party, the Congress has almost no presence in the civic body.

At the Khallikote College stadium function, leaders, who joined the BJD, described Naveen as the Vikas Purush (development man).

Sahu, who had served the Manmohan Singh government, described Naveen as the Vikas Purush and the number one chief minister in the country.

"He has excelled the state in many sectors, including social security, education, health, women empowerment and many others. I would work like a squirrel in this development process," Sahu, who had been active in the Congress politics for the past four decades, said.

"It is a historic day. I still believe prathame mati, tapare party (first the land and then the party)," Sahu said.

Panda, who had fought four assembly elections on the Congress ticket, described Naveen as the " jana manasa ra pratik" (the symbol of the general public) and garibara sathi (a friend of the poor). "I left the Congress due to indiscipline and leg pulling politics in the party. The development plank of the BJD attracted me," Panda said.

"Naveen believes in hard work, and our aim is the development of Ganjam, Odisha and Berhampur in particular," said Gantayat as thousands of their supporters cheered.

Naveen welcomed all the leaders and workers into the party in his three-minute address in Odia. " Bandhu mananku ame sabubele swagat karuchu. Ehi dhara bajaya rahiba (We always welcome friends, and this process will continue)," he said.

Berhampur MP Siddhanta Mahapatra, who had defeated Sahu twice in the Lok Sabha elections, also welcomed him and other leaders. "Earlier, these leaders used to criticise us, and it helped us do better. Now they have joined our party, and it would help us further in the development process," said Siddhanta.