Accept Or Sideline? Sujata Karthikeyan Rejoining Puts Odisha Govt In A Quandary

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s senior IAS officer Sujata Karthikeyan joined duty on Wednesday after remaining on leave for six months.

The state government on Tuesday rejected her request for extension of leave for another six months and the 2000-batch IAS officer has taken charge as special secretary in the Finance department. However, a big question is what will she do now. Sujata is the wife of VK Pandian, who was in all powerful during the previous BJD government. The BJP, which is in power now, had constantly targetted her earlier. One wonders how will she work under the BJP government.

Observers wonder whether the state government will take her into confidence and want to know what will be the approach of senior bureaucrats towards her.

What will Sujata do?

The results of the last elections were out on June 4. The people voted out the BJD, which had been in power in the state for 24 years, put it in the opposition. After the results were declared, the General Administration and Public Grievance Department approved Sujata’s leave retrospectively from May 31. Sujata’s husband VK Pandian was considered the most influential person during the BJD government. Sujata’s position was also quite high. Therefore, it was discussed that she deliberately went on leave after the change of government. Now, after the government refused to extend her leave, she has joined duty. But how long can she work? Observers want to know whether she will take voluntary retirement.

Was Sujata on BJP target?

Sujata was targeted by the BJP before the elections. The bureaucrat, who was the head of the Mission Shakti department in the BJD regime, was accused by the BJP of misusing government machinery to get votes in favour of the BJD. It was also said that she was managing the political work of the BJD through Mission Shakti members with government funds. After the BJP petitioned the Election Commission, Sujata was removed from the Mission Shakti Department and given the charge of Special Secretary, Finance Department.

Once an influential officer during the BJD rule, Sujata will now have to work under the BJP government. It will be challenging for her to handle the responsibility. It will be equally difficult for the Mohan Majhi government to trust her. The BJP government cannot easily trust Sujata as the saffron party filed a complaint accusing her of misusing government machinery for BJD’s gain. Now, they will definitely think twice before giving her the government’s confidential file. After the BJD was ousted from power, Pandian himself withdrew from direct politics. But even now, there is talk that he is running party affairs from behind the scenes. In such a situation, the BJP government will be apprehensive if she remains in a senior position. After the new government came to power, there was a change in the state administration. However, even now several officials having links with the BJD are still in the administration. If Sujata bats for BJD, the government may suffer. Similarly, it will not be easy for Sujata to fit into the BJP government. There may also be a dispute over the Mission Shakti department. No one also knows what will be the attitude of other senior officials towards her. One has to watch to see whether the BJP government will accept or sideline her.