Who Is VK Pandian? Ex-IAS Joins BJD After Serving As Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik's Aide

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik's close aide and former IAS officer V Karthikeyan Pandian on Monday formally joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal.

Pandian joined the regional party in the presence of the chief minister, ministers, lawmakers and senior BJD leaders.

He is a 2000-batch Odisha cadre IAS officer. He started his career as a civil servant as a sub-collector in Dharmagarh, located in Kalahandi district.

Pandian later served as a collector in the Mayurbhanj and Ganjam districts before transitioning to his role in the Chief Minister's office.

In the last 10 years since joining, Pandian has played a key role in many crucial decisions of the Patnaik government.

Pandian sparked several controversies and was accused of violating the service rule.

He had taken voluntary retirement from government service on October 23 this year.

Pandian was later appointed as the chairman of the state's flagship 5T (transformational initiative) and Navin (new) Odisha scheme in the rank of a cabinet minister to work directly under the chief minister.