VK Pandian’s Bureaucrat Wife Transferred by EC After Allegations of Misuse of Public Office Surfaced

Bhubaneswar: Hours after BJP lodged complaint against senior Odisha bureaucrat Sujata R Kartikeyan, wife of BJD leader VK Pandian, alleging misuse of public office amid the model code of conduct in effect in view of the Lok Sabha polls and the state Assembly polls, the Election Commission on Thursday ordered the immediate transfer of the state government official. Sujata R Kartikeyan was holding the charge of Commissioner-cum-secretary in the Department of Mission Shakti in the Odisha government.

She is the wife of BJD leader VK Pandian, who is a close associate of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Considering the seriousness of the allegation, Kartikeyan was shunted out with immediate effect following complaints of alleged misuse of public office by the Election Commission.

The BJP had petitioned the Election Commission to remove Karthikeyan from her post contending that she was "actively" operating as an agent of the ruling BJD in the state.

"It is unfortunate that the serving IAS officer has given a go-bye to professionalism and is actively indulging as an agent of the BJD because of the influence of her husband on her. She is actively participating in the elections as a front person of the BJD in a manner which has been unheard of earlier," it said.

"With a view to preserve the unbiased and unblemished reputation of the ECI, it would be in the fitness of things to relieve Sujata R Kartikeyan, IAS from the post of commissioner-cum secretary, department of of Mission Shakti, government of Odisha and not assigned any public dealing duty till the conclusion of the impending parliamentary and assembly elections in the state of Odisha," the BJP demanded.