NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday approved the voluntary retirement of VK Pandian, principal secretary to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik amid high speculation of the 2000-batch Odisha cadre IAS officer taking a plunge into state politics.
In its communication sent to the additional chief secretary of Odisha’s general administration department, the DoPT wrote that the Centre has approved the proposal of the Odisha government that was forwarded on October 20. Pandian who has been serving as PS to the CM since 2011 and has been the most powerful bureaucrat in the state.
The IAS officer of Tamil Nadu origin was recently in the limelight for his whirlwind tour to different districts using the state chopper. The opposition BJP and Congress have targeted Pandian for violating service condition rules.
The bureaucrat has also faced criticism from leaders of ruling BJD amid speculations that he might be the successor of the Odisha CM.
Earlier, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi and other leaders had challenged that if Pandian was keen to do politics, he should resign from his official post.
Pandhian has emerged as the shadow boy of Naveen Patnaik has emerged as the power centre in the state. BJD insiders said it won’t be an easy road for the IAS officer considering that many in the party don’t agree with his way of working.