Tamil Nadu ex-bureaucrat V. Karthikeyan Pandian Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik's successor?

BHUBANESWAR:  Is V. Karthikeyan Pandian, a 2000-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who recently retired from his service under Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) is going to be the successor of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik? What makes the CM trust him so much?  

These baffling queries are being widely discussed in various spheres – starting from power corridors to political circles across the length and breadth of Odisha and in national capital New Delhi, too.

Mr Pandian’s close proximity to the CM, his rising clout over the state administration and the organisation of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have fuelled the speculation that he would be at the helm of affairs post the Odisha Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha polls to be held simultaneously in 2024.

Who is V. Karthikeyan Pandian?

Born on May 29, 1974 at Koothappanpatti near Melur in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district, Pandian completed his primary education at Vellapatti Government School near Alagar Temple. He then did his graduation in agriculture science and post-graduation in physiology.

In 2000, he cracked civil services and became an Indian Administrative Service (IAS). He got Odisha cadre and married Odia IAS officer Sujata Raut.

Pandian’s first appointment was as Sub-Collector in Dharamgarh in Kalahandi district and served in the post from 2002 to 2004. During his brief stint, he earned love and affection of the local people as he ensured to farmers the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy and regularised the procurement of the crop by government-run mandis  (procurement centres). His work attracted the attention of the state government.

Later, he was posted as District Collector of Mayurbhanj from 2005 to 2007 and Ganjam district from 2007 to 2011.

During his posting in Mayurbhanj, he traveled to remote villages of the district to take stock of the development projects. He helped in expediting the implementation of development plans. In recognition of his work for the disabled, he also received the 'Helen Keller' award. He also did some commendable work to check migration of poor people in Ganjam districts to other states in search of work.

Why does Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik trust Tamil Nadu man V K Pandian most?

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik all along observed Pandian’s performances and brought him to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in 2011. He was made private secretary to the CM. This position helped the bureaucrat to get closely associated with the CM. Slowly and yet steadily, he began to win the confidence of the CM and helped the latter discharge his official as well as political activities with consummate ease.

When the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress suspected the “junior” bureaucrat’s “increasing” and “unprincipled” interference in the state governance system superseding officers who are quite seniors to him in the state bureaucracy; the CM created a special governance wing and made him its secretary. The new department was called 5T.

The term 5T stands for teamwork, transparency, technology, time and transformation.

The new responsibility gave Pandian the much needed legal authority to meddle in and supervise the activities of almost all departments of the state government, thereby making him the de facto top executive. The positions of Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner of the state virtually appeared dwarf as he became the centre of all governance activities.

After he became the 5T secretary, Pandian supervised the projects executed under the 'Mo Sarkar' or “My Government” mission. The mission aimed at ensuring that all the state government schemes and programmes reached the targeted beneficiaries effectively.

In between, Pandian launched a completely different mission which aimed at transforming all the places of worship, especially old and important Hindu temples. The temples, among others, included Srimandir or Lord Jagannath temple at Puri and Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneswar. He launched Shree Jagannatha Heritage Corridor project in Puri and Ekamra Kshetra Development project in Bhubaneswar in 2019 for redevelopment and beautification of the two major Hindu shrines.

Almost all major temples across the state were generously provided funds for their development after Pandian visited those places and held discussions with the priests.

The pictures of Pandian visiting temples barefooted, priests receiving him with garlands; and the bureaucrat expressing his gratitude to the clergymen with folded hands are regularly shared with the media by the Odisha government’s information and public relations (I&PR) department and some of the spokespersons of the ruling BJD on social media platforms.

Once he assumed the image of temple-loving Hindu bureaucrat, Pandian conveniently shifted to another domain – education – ostensibly to present himself as a champion of social empowerment. He embarked upon a mission to transform the government-run schools as ‘5T Schools’ through infrastructure development, including construction of new buildings and creation of smart classrooms. He then focused on transformation of places of historical and spiritual importance.

Process begins for Pandian’s ‘soft-landing’ in politics!

As the Opposition continued to bash Pandian for his whirlwind tours to different parts of the state by using a helicopter spending crores of rupees from the state coffer in the pretext of listening to people’s grievances, Pandian took voluntary retirement from service on October 23, 2023. His retirement under Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) was granted within hours by the Union government’s department of personnel and training (DoPT).

The DoPT’s swiftness in granting Pandian’s VRS came as stark contrast to its earlier instruction to the state government to probe the allegation of violation of the All India Service Conduct Rules. This move has created a speculation about the rising bonhomie between the BJD and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

What is more surprising is that Pandian has a close relationship with the BJP’s central leaders. Very recently, the Union home minister Amit Shah, who was on a one-day trip to Odisha, reportedly met him at a hotel here and held a one-to-one talk.  

On October 24, Pandian was appointed as chairperson of "Nabin Odisha” and ‘5t Initiative,’ two special missions, with a Cabinet minister rank. The two missions not only gave him the legal authority to supervise performances of all the state government departments but also conferred on him the power to monitor the development works. A huge allocation of Rs 3,397 crore has been made for rural development works in 6,794 gram panchayats in the state under the ‘Nabin Odisha’ initiative. Each gram panchayat will get Rs 50 lakh under the programme.

Post his appointment as chairperson of ‘Nabin Odisha” and ‘5t Initiative,’ different wings of Biju Janata Dal, government employees’ associations, trade unions and cultural organizations have started meeting and greeting Pandian, all at the CM Naveen Patnaik’s residence, adding further credence about the bureaucrat taking a plunge into politics.

V. Karthikeyan Pandian's rising status

According to senior Odisha officials, V. Karthikeyan Pandian was the brain behind the Bijuswatiya Kalyan Yojana, which provides health insurance to 70 lakh poor people in the state. He is also credited with hosting two Men’s Hockey World Cup tournaments in Odisha successfully and building the largest hockey stadium at Rourkela.

Nowadays, articles about Karthikeyan Pandian have started appearing in Odisha and national media. He is getting people's attention.

Many fan pages of Karthikeyan Pandian are also active on social media. News and videos related to them keep coming on these pages continuously.

Naveen Patnaik has been the CM of Odisha since 2000. He is a bachelor. Neither his Delhi-based elder brother Prem Patnaik nor his children have shown any interest in Odisha politics. In this scenario, the growing clout of Pandian and the CM strongly backing him has fuelled a speculation that the Tamil Nadu man might take the reins of administration, sooner or later.

It is being widely speculated that Pandian will contest the upcoming Odisha Assembly elections and will become a minister in the next government. But all this is just speculation right now.

There is a possibility that Biju Janata Dal retains power in the state for the sixth consecutive term post the 2024 Assembly elections. Hence, in  all likelihood, the influence of Pandian on both the state government and the BJD organization would not only continue but also rise further.