Why everyone is talking about Pandian in Odisha | India News

BHUBANESWAR: All of a sudden, the elections in Odisha seem to be revolving around VK Pandian, a Tamil Nadu-born former IAS officer of the Odisha cadre, who quit the service to join BJD and is now the party’s key campaigner and strategist. He is also being seen as CM Naveen Patnaik’s political successor.
Pandian has become the prime target of opposition leaders, right from PM Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda to Congress’s Rahul Gandhi.Questions are being raised on how a non-Odia may take over the state’s reins if BJD returns to office. How Odia “asmita” (self-respect)” is in danger in a state formed on the basis of its language.

In BJD, Pandian is among 40-star campaigners whose names figure in the list after Naveen. Flanked by party candidates, he occupies centre stage everywhere, even in meetings attended by Naveen.
After joining the CM’s office as Naveen’s private secretary in 2011, Pandian’s efficiency caught the attention of Naveen. Soon enough, he was picked to be a ‘backroom boy’ to devise Naveen’s poll strategy for the 2014 and 2019 elections.

Local BJP and Congress leaders had been raising the issue of extra-constitutional powers Pandian appeared to enjoy when he was the CM’s secretary till October last year. But as the 50-year-old took voluntary retirement and joined BJD, the “outsider” tag became the key talking point.

But Pandian is unflappable. “I am an Indian by birth and Odia by breath. The mother tongue of my children is Odia and Odisha is my karmabhoomi (land where one works),” he said.
On the issue of succeeding Naveen, Pandian said he considers himself a successor to Naveen’s values of impeccable integrity, absolute commitment to the people of Odisha and his hard work. He added that Naveen has always said the people of Odisha will decide his successor.

Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer, was initially allotted the Punjab cadre. But barely a few months into his training, he got it changed to Odisha after marrying Sujata Rout, now Sujata R Karthikeyan, another IAS officer of the 2000-batch Odisha cadre. Sujata is from a village in Odisha’s Kendrapada district. On an Election Commission directive, she was recently transferred to a non-election related, non-public dealing post in the state finance department for alleged violation of poll code.

Like his “guru” Naveen, who wears loose-fitting white kurta-pyjama and slippers when in public, Pandian is invariably seen in an untucked full-sleeve white shirt, and predominantly grey trousers at all his meetings.
When alliance talks between BJP and BJD were going on in March, Pandian was the main negotiator for BJD, making several trips to Delhi.
On Pandian’s rise, BJP’s Odisha face and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said it is not about a specific individual, but rather the subversion of established processes under Naveen’s leadership. “Democratic principles have been undermined and Odisha’s dignity disregarded. Mandate given to Naveen and BJD has been sidelined by the transfer of power to an unelected official,” he said.
Cashing in on “Odia asmita,” BJP is hoping to have its first govt in Odisha and increase its 2019 Lok Sabha tally of 8 seats. In the last election, BJD had won 12 LS seats and Congress one. In the assembly polls, BJD had got 113 seats, BJP 23, Congress 9 and others 2.
Leaving it to the people of Odisha to judge if he is an outsider, Pandian said BJP has no right to talk about Odia ‘asmita’, pointing out how a deserving Biju Patnaik – in fact, none from Odisha – was found suitable for a Bharat Ratna, while Odisha’s Paika revolt of 1817 was not given due recognition by BJP govt.
Speculation is rife that Naveen, who has been contesting from two assembly seats — Hinjili and Kantabanji — may vacate one for Pandian.
Political analysts feel Naveen (77), who is seeking a sixth term, has taken a calculated risk by elevating Pandian from the role of a backroom boy to a star campaigner. “If BJD does well, Pandian will get legitimacy and grow in stature. If it falters, the blame will fall on him because Naveen has never lost elections since he became CM for first time in 2000,” said Surya Nayaran Mishra, a retired professor of political science from Utkal University.
“It’s a test case for electoral politics in Odisha as nothing similar has happened in the past,” said RK Satapathy, another retired professor of political science at North-Eastern Hill University. “If BJD does well, Naveen will make history by becoming the longest-serving CM within a few months. Pandian’s acceptability will also increase. For a large section of voters, content with freebies, who is at the helm doesn’t matter much. But I doubt if politically conscious people will accept him,” he said.