Bhubaneswar: IAS officer VK Pandian, the private secretary of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, took voluntary retirement from government service, officials said on Monday. Pandian whose rose to prominence as the close aide of the chief minister has often landed him in controversies, with opposition parties alleging that he was misusing his position for political gains.
He was a 2000-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre. In a letter to the Odisha government's general administration department, the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training said his voluntary retirement has been accepted "with the waiver of the notice period as recommended by the State Government".
The opposition BJP and Congress had asked him to resign and "officially join the BJD", after he went on a whirlwind tour across the state during which he held 190 meetings to hear public grievances. Senior Congress MLA SS Saluja welcomed Pandian's decision to take voluntary retirement.
"We welcome his decision. He should have done it earlier. We do not know whether he will join politics or return back to his own state. However, if he joins the BJD, then it will be helpful for the opposition, the Congress is particular," Saluja said. BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi said Pandian has resigned to take forward his political activities.
"Now, he will be able to do politics openly instead of with the mask of a bureaucrat on. He will not be accepted by the people of Odisha," he claimed. The assembly elections in Odisha will be due early next year, and are usually held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. (PTI)
