India, Oct. 13 -- Former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Kannan Gopinathan, who resigned from service in 2019 as a mark of protest against the "shutdown" of Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370, joined Congress on Monday.

Gopinathan joined the party in the presence of Congress general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, party leaders Pawan Khera and Kanhaiya Kumar.

"Joining the IAS was a means for me to serve. Leaving it was a necessity to speak. Through the Indian National Congress, I find the space to do both, to serve the people and to raise my voice against injustice," the former IAS officer wrote on X after being inducted.

He thanked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the oppositio...