Retired IAS officer Ashok Kumar Tripathy along with a large number of supporters from Badamba joined the BJP in Orissa the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday. Ever since he retired as the Member, Board of Revenue, Tripathy, a 1981-batch IAS officer, was busy in social and cultural activities for quite some time. He is also an active Rotarian. Pradhan said that joining of Tripathy would strengthen the BJP in the State. "He will guide the BJP in Odisha on administrative matters as he has deep insight to the State administration," said Pradhan.