VK Pandian’s wife goes on 6-month ‘child care’ leave

Pandian has not been seen anywhere since the BJD lost the assembly elections on June 4. The party failed to secure a single seat in the Lok Sabha, polling for which was held along with the assembly elections.

Updated on: Jun 8, 2024, 07:10:10 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

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Amid speculations over whereabouts of former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s trusted aide VK Pandian after the Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) defeat in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the latter’s wife and IAS officer Sujata Karthikeyan has decided to go on leave for nearly six months.

A notification issued by the General Administration department on Thursday said that Sujata, special secretary in the state finance department, has been granted ‘Child Care’ leave for nearly six months, from May 31 to November 26, to look after her daughter who is scheduled to appear for the Class 10 board exams next year.

The development also comes almost a month after Sujata was transferred from the department of Mission Shakti to the finance department over complaints of misuse of public office. The BJP, which was earlier in the Opposition and is now set to form the government in the state, had alleged that the IAS officer was forcing women self help groups to influence voters and had even threatened to stop the government financial aid.

HT reached out to Sujata for a comment but did not get one immediately.

Pandian has not been seen anywhere since the BJD lost the assembly elections on June 4. The party failed to secure a single seat in the Lok Sabha, polling for which was held along with the assembly elections.

A few TV channels on Thursday showed Pandian heading out of the domestic terminal of Delhi’s IGI airport.

While the bureaucrat-turned-politician has also been spotted with Patnaik during almost all occasions, he did accompany the latter when he went to submit his resignation to the governor on Wednesday. He continued to remain absent while party leaders met Patnaik in the last two days.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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