Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s former private secretary VK Pandian on Monday formally joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), a little more than a month after he resigned from the Indian Administrative Services (IAS).
Pandian, 49, a trusted lieutenant of Patnaik for more than a decade, joined the party at Naveen Niwas in the presence of Patnaik. The move comes amid speculation that the influential former bureaucrat could emerge as the second most powerful leader within the party, and perhaps even Patnaik’s successor as party chief in the future.
The Tamil Nadu-born Pandian is a 2000-batch IAS officer who was originally in the Punjab cadre but switched to Odisha in 2001after marrying his batch mate Sujata Rout, who is an Odisha-cadre officer. Pandian, who was serving as Patnaik’s private secretary since 2011, took voluntary retirement from the IAS onOctober 23. He was given charge of Naveen Odisha, a state government initiative to augment rural infrastructure, with the rank of cabinet minister. He was appointed chairman of the state government’s 5T (good governance model) initiative which started five years ago.
“I welcome Pandian to Biju Janata Dal. As all of you know, he has been working very hard for several years for the people of our state and he will continue to do so as member of the party,” Patnaik said minutes after he joined BJD.
{{/usCountry}}“I welcome Pandian to Biju Janata Dal. As all of you know, he has been working very hard for several years for the people of our state and he will continue to do so as member of the party,” Patnaik said minutes after he joined BJD.
{{/usCountry}}Pandian said: “With the guidance of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, I will work for the people of Odisha in a dedicated, humble and selfless manner.”
BJD leaders welcomed Padian’s inclusion in the party, and Puri MP Pinaki Mishra said the former official was coming on board with the blessings of party chief Patnaik. “Pandian was advised by Patnaik to work for the state and the party like he worked with him for the last 13-14 years. The CM exuded hope that Pandian will bring success to the party like he did for the administration. The CM also said that Pandian’s administrative and political experience will be a great asset for the party,” Mishra told reporters.
Sanjay Das Burma, state general secretary(headquarters) of BJD,said Pandian’s vast experience will strengthen the BJD. “We hope under his guidance, the party will become more powerful in the future,” he said at Sankha Bhawan, the BJD state headquarters.
Once he moved to Odisha, Pandian started as subcollector of Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district from August 2002 to February 2004. He then served as additional district magistrate in Rourkela before being made district collector of Mayurbhanj and Ganjam between May 2005 and April 2011. Having impressed Patnaik with his administrative acumen, he was picked by the CM to be his private secretary in 2011.
In May 2012, a year after being posted to the CM’s office, Pandian earned the CM’s trust when he helped quelled a revolt against Patnaik from his erstwhile political adviser Pyarimohan Mohapatra. With time, Patnaik began entrusting Pandian with work related to both the state administration and the party. His office on the third floor in the CM’s secretariat became the power centre in the state with Pandian controlling the access to Patnaik.
Earlier this year, Pandian found himself at the centre of a controversy after he undertook a series of tours to all 30 districts in a state chopper. The opposition said the tours were a wasteful expenditure; BJD’s own MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik said it was more expensive than the total cost of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission. At least two complaints were lodged before DoPT by the BJP and Congress.
On Monday, after joining the party, Pandian headed to the party office where he was felicitated by other leaders. He then travelled to Ganjam district -- his last field posting before moving to Bhubaneswar.
Experts said Pandian’s joining BJD assumes significance ahead of the 2024 general elections as Patnaik finds it increasingly difficult to undertake tours across the state. The BJD won 112 of the 147 seats in 2019 assembly polls and 12 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats.
Political analysts said Pandian may have joined the BJD, but it would be difficult to see him succeed Patnaik. “Though Pandian enjoys the complete support of Patnaik, it is difficult to imagine a non-Odia as the future CM of Odisha that was the first state in India to be formed on the basis of language in 1936. Would the BJD rank and file still rally around him when Patnaik is not around,” asked Rabi Das, a politcal analyst.