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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.
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.
