Odisha CM’s Private Secretary VK Pandian Under Fire From DoPT

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s high-flying private secretary for the past 12 years, Mr V K Pandian is once again under in the news as Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Union government sent a notice to the Odisha Chief Secretary, urging an inquiry into the complaint lodged against Mr Pandian by some state BJP leaders. They accused Pandian of exceeding his authority.

In a letter to the Secretary of the DoPT, former state chief secretary and Odisha Congress leader Bijay Patnaik cited multiple incidents against Pandian and demanded an investigation.

In a press conference Suresh Pujari, BJP Member of Parliament from Bargarh, said, “The functions and duties of Constitutional posts like those of the Prime Minister or Chief Minister cannot be delegated to anyone.”

Pandian is said to be the super-chief minister as he commands almost as much authority as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik government himself. He recently courted controversy for standing up for the chief minister at a public meeting held on Monday in Barpali, Bargarh district. At the meeting Pandian played an audio recording of the Chief Minister addressing the people, explaining that he had sent his private secretary to understand their grievances. The audio was subsequently shared on social media by BJD leaders.

CM’s PS or Super CM

VK Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer originally from Tamil Nadu, served as Collector of Mayurbhanj and Ganjam (the CM’s home district), before being appointed as Naveen Patnaik’s private secretary in May 2011.

Pandian has been the key strategist behind the Odisha government’s focus on sports and the development of sports infrastructure in the state. As a result, Odisha has been selected to host several international sporting events, including two consecutive Men’s Hockey World Cups.

The controversy

Since 2019, Pandian has been directly overseeing the Naveen Patnaik government’s 5T initiative, as well as the “Mo Sarkar” program, aimed at receiving public feedback. The recent drive by the BJD government to transform schools, temples, and infrastructure projects is believed to be Pandian’s brainchild.

Former IAS officer turned BJP Member of Parliament from Bhubaneswar, Ms Aparajita Sarangi too objected to a Secretary-level officer attending a political party’s public meetings. Sarangi resigned from the IAS in 2018 to join the BJP.  During a rally in Kalahandi district, BJP national president J P Nadda accused Mr Naveen Patnaik of having “outsourced his government to bureaucracy.”

From Within BJD Too

Rumblings against Mr Pandian have started within ruling Biju Janata Dal also. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) general secretary Shyam Prasad Behera resigned from primary membership of the party, protesting against bureaucratic control of the party and neglect of Basta assembly constituency, on Wednesday.

In his resignation letter to Mr Naveen Patnaik, Behera expressed displeasure over the “extraordinary influence” wielded by the 5T secretary VK Pandian, in the party. “The MLAs and Ministers, whom people have elected to run the state, can be seen standing with folded hands in front of a bureaucrat. They have been pushed to the background and assigned the task of arranging chairs and rolling out carpets,” he wrote.

BJD vice-president and Khandapada MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik too expressed concerns about the alleged hijacking of governance by a section of bureaucrats.  In his column in The Sambad Daily, owned by the Chief Minister himself, Patnaik urged Naveen to address the Opposition’s allegations that “governance in Odisha has been hijacked by a section of the bureaucrats”, he even asked Sarangi to address the issue to Prime Minister.