Bhubaneswar: Fifteen months after stepping away from the bureaucracy, former IAS officer Sujata Rout Karthikeyan is set to begin a new chapter in public life by entering active politics.
If rumours are to be believed, wife of bureaucrat-turned-politician V K Pandian, who is a close aide of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik, Sujata will formally join the regional party on Thursday.
Though the BJD has not issued an official confirmation, party sources indicate that Naveen is set to induct her during a high-level meeting of party leaders scheduled at Sankha Bhavan, the party’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar, at 11:30 am. A group of senior BJD leaders, including Debi Prasad Mishra, Sanjay Das Burma, Pramila Mallik, Sabya Sa
chi Nayak, Pratap Jena and Tukuni Sahu, met the BJD supremo at his residence, Naveen Niwas, on Wednesday, where the move is believed to have been discussed.
It is worth mentioning here that such speculation has been doing the rounds since the 2000-batch IAS officer took voluntary retirement (VRS) in March 2025, following a similar path taken by her husband V K Pandian in 2023 before his own entry into BJD politics. It was refuelled earlier this month when party leader Manmath Rourtray strongly backed her entry and highlighted the overwhelming support she commands within the party’s grassroots.
Former minister for women and child development and senior BJD leader Tukuni Sahu added fuel to the speculation on Wednesday, welcoming the possibility. “Whatever the party president, Naveen Patnaik, decides, we will accept. If he wants her to join the party and work alongside everyone, we will certainly welcome her,” she told reporters.
Sujata’s administrative career includes stints such as the Collector of Kataka and Sundargarh.
Political observers view her potential induction as a strategic move for the BJD, especially with upcoming panchayat and municipal elections. Her possible joining could mean V K Pandian, who had claimed he would “withdraw from active politics” after BJD’s 2024 electoral debacle, re-emerging as the power centre in the Naveen-led party.