New Delhi: Sujata Root Karthikeyan, a former senior IAS officer in Odisha and spouse of as soon as influential Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Naveen Patnaik shut aide VK Pandian, joined the get together at the moment in what’s being seen within the state’s political circles as a part of the BJD’s succession plan.
Naveen Patnaik continued to help Mr. Pandian although many inside the BJD maintain him chargeable for the humiliating defeat by the hands of the BJP within the 2024 meeting elections. Mr. Pandian stays Mr. Patnaik’s right-hand man and generally manages get together affairs behind the scenes.
“However Mr. Patnaik is aware of that Mr. Pandian can’t be his successor. Many inside the BJD maintain him chargeable for the get together’s defeat,” a state BJP chief, who requested anonymity, instructed ThePrint.
Additionally, Pandians are Tamilians and will not be accepted by Odias. “That’s the reason Sujata, an Odiya from Kendrapara, was introduced in,” a state Bharatiya Janata Get together chief, who requested anonymity, instructed ThePrint.
Karthikeyan and Pandian had been usually known as the ability couple of Odisha in the course of the BJD rule. Whereas Karthikeyan is from Odiya, her husband is from Tamil Nadu. Pandian, who was an IAS officer in 2000, retired voluntarily and formally joined the BJD in September 2023 forward of the state meeting elections.
Mr. Pandian was concerned in all facets of the election course of, from deciding on candidates to figuring out points to spotlight, as Mr. Patnaik sought his sixth time period in energy. In actual fact, the BJD had named him certainly one of its star activists.
BJD leaders stated that Mr. Pandian had develop into a form of shadow CM, wielding immense energy in each the get together and the forms, and that it was his unbridled energy that had alienated not simply get together employees however individuals within the discipline and led to humiliating corruption within the BJD.
Forward of the elections, the opposition BJP had made Pandian a significant election challenge. They focused the Patnaik-led BJD authorities for undermining Odisha’s ‘asmita’ (delight) by giving limitless powers to former IASs belonging to Tamil Nadu.
A second BJD chief stated Sujata’s becoming a member of the get together had come on the proper time because the BJD was experiencing inside turmoil following the defeat. “Because the get together’s defeat, six Bharatiya Janata Get together MPs and a number of other mid-level leaders have switched to the Bharatiya Janata Get together. The get together appears to have misplaced its course,” the get together chief stated on situation of anonymity.
Karthikeyan took voluntary retirement from the IAS in March 2025. Since then, there was discuss of her becoming a member of BJD. “For a very long time, this has been talked about in political circles as a succession plan for the BJD,” the second-generation chief stated.
The face of BJD authorities’s Mission Shakti
Karthikeyan, who joined the IAS in 2000, was thought of one of the vital highly effective civil servants within the state till the BJD’s defeat within the 2024 meeting elections.
A graduate scholar in worldwide politics from JNU, Karthikeyan began his bureaucratic profession as a deputy collector in Nabarangpur. She was additionally the primary girl collector of Cuttack district. Because the Naxal-hit Sundargarh Collector, she launched eggs within the mid-day meal scheme of all authorities faculties within the district.
She grew to become the face of ‘Mission Shakti’, the signature plan of the erstwhile Naveen Patnaik authorities to empower lakhs of girls within the state by way of a community of self-help teams (SHGs). An in a position bureaucrat, she is credited with constructing an unlimited community of SHGs within the state and remodeling the lives of rural ladies. Having the help of former CM Patnaik helped her succeed.
Her troubles started simply earlier than the 2024 parliamentary elections, when the Election Fee of India (ECI) transferred her from the Mission Shakti Program below the Ladies and Youngster Growth Division, the place she was the chairperson and secretary.
The switch order got here quickly after a BJP delegation met the ECI and submitted a memorandum looking for Karthikeyan’s switch on the grounds of “abuse of public workplace”. The BJP had alleged that she was utilizing her place as the top of Mission Shakti to affect ladies self-help teams to vote for the BJD.
Shortly after the BJD misplaced energy and the Mohan Manjhi-led BJP authorities got here to energy, Karthikeyan, who was a particular secretary within the finance ministry, went on a six-month paternity go away. She resumed her duties in November 2024 after her software for a six-month go away extension was rejected by the Maji authorities.
The 50-year-old was additionally one of many driving forces behind Millet Shakti, a joint initiative below Odisha Millet Mission and Mission Shakti to empower ladies entrepreneurs and promote millet consumption by way of SHGs. Millet cafes run by ladies SHGs are mushrooming throughout Odisha, together with in far-flung districts like Kalahandi.
(Edited by Vinny Mishra)
Additionally learn: Sujata Karthikeyan, one half of Odisha’s IAS energy couple and the face of BJD’s Mission Shakti, turns into VRS
