- IAS officer VK Pandian, the private secretary of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, took voluntary retirement from government service, officials said.
- IAS officer VK Pandian is considered the right-hand man of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. This has led to speculation that Pandian may join politics.
- He has been with Patnaik since 2011 and is seen as a key figure in both the Odisha government and the ruling party Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
- BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi said Pandian has resigned to take forward his political activities.
IAS officer VK Pandian, the private secretary of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, took voluntary retirement from government service, officials said. The Centre has approved the voluntary retirement of IAS officer VK Pandian, who is considered the right-hand man of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. This has led to speculation that Pandian may join politics. He has been with Patnaik since 2011 and is seen as a key figure in both the Odisha government and the ruling party Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
In a major development, the Centre approved the voluntary retirement of IAS officer VK Pandian, the right-hand man of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, triggering speculation of him joining politics.
Pandian, a 2000-batch Odisha cadre officer, is a native of Tamil Nadu and has been with Patnaik since 2011. He is seen as a key figure in both the Odisha government and the state’s ruling party Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) ecosystem, next to Patnaik only.
V K Pandian completed tours of all 147 assembly constituencies in the state bringing an end to his six-month-long visit to all the districts in the state amid criticism and protests by opposition parties.
Pandian applied for voluntary retirement on October 20 and got it within three days from the Centre on October 23.
Many in the state government and BJD are of the view that he has taken VRS with the blessings of Naveen Patnaik, and will formally join the politics and play an active role in assembly polls in Odisha next year. A very soon announcement could be made of him being given a key post in BJD, sources said.
With Patnaik’s ailing health, Pandian influence and stature rose so much that he was the only third person in the recent political meetings of the BJD supremo.
Pandian’s wife Sujata Pandian, is also an IAS officer and native of Odisha.
The opposition BJP and Congress had asked him to resign and “officially join the BJD” after he went on a whirlwind tour across the state during which he held 190 meetings to hear public grievances. BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi said Pandian has resigned to take forward his political activities. “Now, he will be able to do politics openly instead of with the mask of a bureaucrat on. He will not be accepted by the people of Odisha,” he claimed.
Senior Congress MLA SS Saluja welcomed Pandian’s decision to take voluntary retirement.
The assembly elections in Odisha will be due early next year and are usually held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
(With inputs from agencies)
