ECI orders transfer of VK Pandian’s wife Sujata Karthikeyan after BJP complains

The BJP and the BJD are locked in a tight battle in Odisha, where elections to pick a new assembly are being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Thursday ordered the transfer of senior bureaucrat Sujata Karthikeyan, secretary of Odisha’s Mission Shakti department, to a non-public dealing department with immediate effect.

Election Commission of India (Representative Photo)

The orders were issued within hours of the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the bureaucrat, wife of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader VK Pandian, of “misusing” her position to mobilise women attached with self-help groups “for electoral gains for the Biju Janata Dal”. To be sure, ECI has not commented on the transfer order.

Mission Shakti was launched on March 8, 2001 by chief minister Naveen Patnaik with the objective of strengthening the women’s empowerment process through women’s self-help groups.

In its representation, the BJP demanded that Karthikeyan should not be given any responsibility till the assembly election and the Lok Sabha polls are over as she was “indulging in open, blatant and gross, misuse of authority, government machinery and manpower for influencing voters through SVEEP for electoral gains of BJD.”

SVEEP is the flagship programme of the Election Commission of India for voter education, spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in the country.

A delegation led by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sudhanshu Trivedi and senior party leader Om Pathak in their submission to the poll panel alleged that Pandian, who also served as the Private Secretary to CM Patnaik for over a decade, wields considerable influence within the state’s administration.

The BJP and the BJD are locked in a tight battle in Odisha, where elections to pick a new assembly are being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.

The party has now alleged that Pandian, through his wife, would use his administrative experience to influence elections.

“In November 2023, after taking voluntary retirement from IAS, Pandian joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party. He was subsequently appointed as the chairman of the state’s flagship programme- 5T transformational initiatives with the rank of a cabinet minister...His proximity to the Chief Minister as well as the BJD cannot be over-emphasised,” the petition says.

Targeting Karthikeyan, the BJP has said, “It is extremely unfortunate that the serving IAS officer has given a go-bye to professionalism and is actively indulging as an agent of the BJD because of the influence of her husband on her.”

Claiming she should have “proceeded on leave and disassociated herself from anything to do with public dealing during the elections”, the BJP alleged that the official has been influencing voters.

“It has been brought to our attention by our party workers that the Department of Mission Shakti is being grossly misused by the ruling dispensation of the State i.e. Biju Janata Dal, to influence the voters to vote for Biju Janata Dal in the 2024 Parliamentary and Legislative Assembly Elections. It is important to point out that the Department of Mission Shakti, as part of its charter of duty, promotes various Women Self Help Groups (”SHGs”). Further, the Department provides gainful activities to the SHGs by providing credit, market linkage and other financial benefits with a budget running into thousands of crores,” BJP’s petition further reads.

It added, that the functionaries of the Department of Mission Shakti have been “compelling and coercing these SHGs, with the threat of stopping the Government financial benefits, and thus making them propagate and influence the voters to vote for Biju Janata Dal...”

Elections in Odisha will be held in four phases starting from May 13 till June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.

The BJP, which won eight Lok Sabha seats in 2019 has set its eyes on doubling the number in the state that sends 21 lawmakers to Parliament.