Odisha Probes Pandian’s Costly Helicopter Tours, Promises Action

Bhubaneswar: Trouble seems to be lurking for V Karthikeyan Pandian, a Tamil Nadu-born bureaucrat-turned Biju Janata Dal (BJD) politician who made whirlwind tours on helicopters to different parts of the state between 2020 and 2024 in the pretext of listening to public grievances.

On Friday, Odisha transport minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena informed that an investigation into the expenditures on Pandian's whirlwind tours was underway and stern action would soon be taken if any violation of norms is found.

There are rules as to who can use helicopters and appropriate action will definitely be taken if any violation is found, said minister Jena.

“After our party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the state in June this year, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has heard the grievances of thousands of people. However, no money has been spent on his regular public grievance exercises. The CM is regularly holding his public grievance hearing sessions in Bhubaneswar and people coming with grievances are getting instant solutions and justice,” said the minister.

Stating that the state government would adopt “zero tolerance” against corruption, the minister said, “If any officer is found to have misused the government exchequer, the state government will take action.”

“Now, the people of Odisha are asking this question about his (Pandian's) tours as they have seen how he was roaming around Odisha in choppers from February 2020 to December 2023. They (people) are unable to digest it. Our government is committed to zero corruption and we can't accept misuse of public money," added Jena.

While people with knowledge of the aviation sector as well as RTI activists maintained that Pandian’s helicopter rides cost the state exchequer to the tune of over Rs 500 crore, the previous BJD government had clarified in the State Assembly that around Rs 50 had been spent for the purpose.

Pandian was the blue-eyed boy of the BJD president and former CM Naveen Patnaik and he virtually ran the state government and the party on his behalf. His “autocratic” rule and “highhandedness,” according to political analysts, accounted for the BJD’s defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly polls.