Bhubaneswar: A crowd of around 20,000 people jostled for space at a political event in Odisha’s Deogarh this July. The venue’s capacity was just 12,000 but people were willing to brave the crush for a glimpse of the man of the hour—not the trend-busting five-time Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, but his trusted private secretary and IAS officer VK Pandian.
In Odisha, which is gearing up for Lok Sabha and assembly elections in 2024, power equations have undergone a tectonic shift, rewriting the grammar of politics and governance. Instead of Neta-Raj, it is Babu-Raj now. The faceless IAS officer is the face of Odisha government and is fast blurring the church-state firewall between politician and civil servant.
Patnaik, bracing for a sixth term as CM, appears to have receded into the background, while a band of swashbuckling IAS officers has taken centre stage not only in managing state affairs but also in political events.
The most prominent among them is V Karthikeyan Pandian, who took over as the CM’s private secretary in 2011. Since the last election in 2019, the 2000-batch IAS officer has become much more than a cog in the state machinery. He is now the main attraction at rallies usually led by the chief minister, announcing packages and glad-handing voters. He juggles both the steel frame and Instagram with equal ease. He has the unthinkable task of delivering the sixth term for Patnaik. The Patnaik-Pandian power combo is moving the needle in Odisha.
A highly placed source in the Chief Minister’s Office claimed that ministers have been reduced to rubber-stamping decisions made by the IAS officers.
“The Chief Minister loves you all. That’s why he has sent me here to talk to you and to listen to your grievances. I have 250 written complaints in my hand and we will take action on each one,” Pandian said at a recent event in Jajpur.
Today, Pandian is seen not just as the power behind the throne, but as one of its occupants. Some call him the bossman, the friendly face of the government; others pound his vehicle with eggs. But Pandian is not the only one. A powerful team of IAS officers is enjoying outsized influence in Odisha and busting the cliché of lazy, apathetic civil servants.
‘Bureaucrats are running the state’
A catchy buzzword echoes across the Odisha government these days: 5T. Pandian is the mastermind behind it. 5T stands for teamwork, technology, transparency, transformation, and time, and it has become the North Star guiding government officials and projects since 2019.
Pandian, the secretary of 5T, works closely with the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and handpicked IAS officers to ensure that the model is implemented across departments and schemes. With elections around the corner, Pandian has been jetting off on district tours to champion the model and gather feedback, at the request of the CM.
Bureaucrats should not be doing politics. Secretaries should be helping the ministers, but it should not be the other way around
— BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik
While the 5T model has been praised by some for its focus on efficiency and accountability, critics have accused IAS officers of overstepping their bounds and usurping the powers of elected representatives. At a rally in Kalahandi district in June, BJP national president JP Nadda said the administration in Odisha had been “outsourced to bureaucracy”.
Not everyone is happy in the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) either.
“Bureaucrats should not be doing politics. Secretaries should be helping the ministers, but it should not be the other way around,” said Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, BJD MLA from Khandapada, speaking to ThePrint. “If the CM wants to send someone (to build awareness about schemes and outreach) he should send elected leaders.”
Notably, on 12 September, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik was reportedly removed from his post as the vice-president of the BJD and faces “disciplinary action” for speaking out against Pandian’s district tours and for criticising his role in Odisha’s politics.
A highly placed political source in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) claimed that ministers have been reduced to rubber-stamping decisions made by IAS officers.
“Ministers are limited to their constituency and major decisions are being taken by the bureaucrats. The cabinet meetings are held only for 15-20 mins,” the source said.
An IAS officer working in Odisha echoed this view. “The CMO has taken all the power in the state. There is a set of bureaucrats who are running the state and Pandian is the boss man,” he said.
Officials working in the CM’s inner circle dismiss the criticism as sour grapes
Sandeep Mishra, political analyst and group editor of Odisha Bytes and Odisha Sambad, alleged that Pandian has systematically consolidated his power by “building a coterie, eliminating rivals within the bureaucracy and the ruling party, working diligently on his image, controlling state resources, and developing a good rapport with people who matter in the central government”.
ThePrint tried to contact Pandian via multiple phone calls, but no response was received. However, officers working on the ground and close to the CM dismiss these allegations as rumours.
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More development, less democracy?
A senior IAS officer who works with Pandian and the CM asserted that Patnaik has “no problem” with the current system in Odisha.
“It is the CM who is giving the instructions and everyone is following them,” he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
One of the most high-profile IAS officers in Odisha, Roopa Roshan Sahoo, special secretary to the CM and commissioner-cum-secretary for ST & SC Development, was also adamant that the political leadership and bureaucracy are working together to implement the CM’s vision.
“Everybody is working for this. There are no clashes,” she said, speaking to ThePrint.
However, officials further down the hierarchy say that though the reduced political interference helps them make quicker decisions, the system may not be strictly in line with democratic principles.
Originally from Tamil Nadu, V Karthikeyan Pandian speaks fluent Odia, and is one half of a power couple. His wife, Sujata R Karthikeyan, is an Odisha-born IAS officer, serving as the secretary in the Mission Shakti department.
“People are happy because they have a hero (in Pandian) and decisions are being taken faster, as there are only 10 people deciding everything. It is like more development, less democracy,” said the Odisha officer quoted earlier.
“Great things are taking place. The gap between government and private schools is reducing and people are benefiting from health schemes. However, power is concentrated in the hands of a few,” he added.
Meanwhile, officials working in the inner circle of the CM dismiss the criticism as sour grapes.
“If they are saying that there is a set of 10-15 bureaucrats running Odisha, they should reflect on why they are not part of the set and why the CM did not choose them,” said the senior IAS officer.
Also Read: Steel frame of India is singing and dancing. IAS officers are discovering their art
‘5T’ in action
Bureaucratic inertia is a common complaint across India, but it is different in Odisha. Here, IAS officers are actioning Pandian’s 5T principles of teamwork, technology, transparency, transformation, and time across a range of highly promoted government initiatives.
One such flagship programme is Mo Sarkar, a model of feedback-based governance overseen by Manoj Kumar Mishra, the principal secretary of the electronics and IT department.
“The government reaches out to people and asks for their feedback. All the officers make calls for feedback, including the Chief Minister, and the anonymity of the feedback-giver is maintained,” explained Mishra, speaking to ThePrint.
The aim of the initiative is to inject professionalism and sustained behavioural change in public offices and officials through direct feedback from citizens on services provided by government agencies. The state government then takes these suggestions into account to improve its service delivery system.
Not just this, the state government has also either suspended or dismissed 197 officials for their inefficiency based on public feedback, Mishra said. The programme started with the health and police departments in 2019, but now encompasses 31 departments, including finance, commerce, and transport.
The CMO uses a colour-coded system to track the call completion rates of its officers. Those with high completion rates are in the green zone, while those with low completion rates are in the red zone.
People who founded the party are leaving and there is no leadership in BJD, there is only Patnaik and Pandian, and the CM is not well these days
— Rabi Das, political expert and veteran journalist
The CM’s special secretary Roopa Sahoo, who is also member secretary of the Poverty and Human Development Monitoring Agency (PHDMA), explained that there is “healthy competition” among officers to maintain their call records. “Sometimes we miss the calls when we go on field visits, but we try to maintain it on the other days,” she said.
Sahoo added that she often undertakes field visits, sometimes taking her daughter along to instill social awareness.
During these visits, Sahoo said she engages with local communities and tries to understand their needs better. She also collaborates with a team of young professionals to address poverty, ensuring that each household they select benefits from all applicable state policies.
“We have to talk to people about how Mission Shakti (an initiative for women’s empowerment) helped wives, how education helped children, how our subsidised farm equipment is helping the farming sector, how old parents are benefiting from social welfare schemes,” Sahoo said.
The ‘technology’ aspect of 5T has also been getting a big push.
“In the last three years, almost 460 government services have gone online, end to end. Once you go to that platform, you will be able to access and use services without having to visit a government office,” Mishra claimed.
To support citizens unfamiliar with online operations, the government has also established help booths, with staff to provide guidance and assistance.
“This is the slogan CM had taken at the time of taking oath in 2019— that citizens should have an option not to come to government offices,” Mishra said.
‘Virtual Chief Minister’, but ‘humble’
Originally from Tamil Nadu, V Karthikeyan Pandian speaks fluent Odia, and is one half of a power couple. His wife, Sujata R Karthikeyan, is an Odisha-born IAS officer, serving as secretary of the Mission Shakti department.
Pandian’s career in the civil service included stints as the district collector of Mayurbhanj and Ganjam, the CM’s home district. He was appointed as Patnaik’s private secretary in May 2011 and has remained in this position since then. It is said that after the CM fell out with his closest advisor, Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra, in 2012, Pandian seamlessly took over that function too.
In Zoom meetings with powerful secretaries and ministers, his screen is often larger than the Chief Secretary’s. From attending political events and cabinet meetings to meeting national leaders, he is doing everything.
Political experts say that 77-year-old Naveen Patnaik’s health is declining and now Pandian is handling both the party and the state.
“People who founded the party are leaving and there is no leadership in BJD, there is only Patnaik and Pandian, and the CM is not well these days,” said Rabi Das, an Odisha-based political expert and veteran journalist.
“CM Patnaik only trusts one person in the state and that is Pandian. From the ruling party to the press nobody can oppose him or his decisions. He is the virtual Chief Minister,” he added.
Earlier, Pandian used to accompany CM Patnaik to critical political meetings, but now he sometimes appears by himself.
For instance, when Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Odisha in August, the private secretary met with him.
“Pandian went to see him and they talked about the early elections in the state as the CM’s health is not good and so it will be difficult for him to campaign in the heat of May,” said the CMO source.
Similarly, in May, against the backdrop of a cyclone sweeping over the Bay of Bengal, Patnaik hosted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for a lunch in Bhubaneswar. The third person at the meal was Pandian.
But while there is no doubt Pandian wields considerable power, he has an unassuming manner and is usually seen dressed in a loose untucked shirt and trousers, with slippers on his feet.
“He is very powerful right now, but when I met him a few months ago at a government event, he was very nice and humble. No one could say bad things about him,” said another IAS officer, asking not to be named.
But with Pandian’s visibility increasing in the run-up to elections, the opposition has been turning up the heat.
Black flags, eggs & DoPT complaints
Naveen Patnaik’s flagship programmes have been key to his enduring popularity in Odisha, but the task of promoting them for the upcoming elections appears to have been largely outsourced to Pandian, especially initiatives centred on 5T.
This month, Pandian and other CMO officials wrapped up a six-month spree of district tours, where they reviewed projects, resolved public grievances, and announced welfare packages.
These trips have not always received a warm welcome. Opposition leaders, from the BJP to Congress, have alleged that Pandian is campaigning for the BJD and that his tours are outside of a civil servant’s remit.
His travels have occasionally been greeted with black flag protests, and eggs were hurled at his car in July when he was touring Sonepur. Last month in Puri, ink was flung on his face. Photos show Pandian smiling through the stains, and he reportedly later asked the police to let go of the assailant.
@MoSarkar5T Secretary played his duty with a smile, Folks say's He is unstoppable !
NB : Pandian faced an ink attack during his trip to Satyabadi of Puri district today@VKPandianOdisha @vkpandianod @Vkpandianfancl1 @bjd_odisha @pranabpdas @manasrmangaraj @swayam4Odisha #Odisha pic.twitter.com/3JjkEDalHi
— BIKASH KUMAR ROUTRAY (@Bikash_Media) August 19, 2023
Pandian’s helicopter rides across the state also triggered a political row, with the BJP claiming that Rs 500 crore from the public treasury was expended on these trips.
In June, BJP state president Manmohan Samal and MP Aparajita Samal even complained to the central government’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) that Pandian’s air travels violated All India Services Conduct (AISC) Rules.
The complaint said that Pandian was travelling across the state using a state helicopter/plane, attending receptions, and announcing new projects on the instruction of the CM, which was in “clear violation of Rule 5(I) and Rule 12 (I) ”. Even Bijay Kumar Patnaik, campaign committee chairman of the Odisha Congress, complained to the DoPT along similar lines.
Subsequently, the DoPT directed state chief secretary PK Jena to take “action as appropriate”.
The BJD, meanwhile, has defended Pandian’s tours, saying that they are part of a legitimate government initiative. Odisha commerce minister Tukuni Sahu even claimed that the opposition was “rattled by Pandian’s solutions to various problems during his visits undertaken on the instruction of the CM”.
Early this month, when the 5T plan for elections was discussed with BJD leaders at the CM’s residence, it was Pandian who reportedly did most of the talking.
This prompted BJP state spokesperson Anil Biswal to remark on X: “Discussions were held with the secretary and Naveen just posed for a photo… will the ministers be significant, or the secretary be significant?”
But the opposition landscape in Odisha is complex, with the Congress wielding little strength and the BJP stuck in a difficult position.
“While the Congress has been in disarray for the past some years and is now busy trying to set its house in order, the principal opposition party, the BJP, lacks a clear narrative. It is caught between treating the BJD as a friend in Delhi and a foe in Odisha,” said political analyst Mishra.
“Unless the two opposition parties put their best foot forward it might be difficult for them to take on the well-oiled electoral machinery of the BJD effectively.”
Meanwhile, despite these controversies, Pandian continues to take the limelight, even as speculation grows that he may join politics himself.
‘Best IAS officer’ has a mass appeal
Pandian doesn’t just sign autographs and take photos with fans at public events – he’s also an Instagram sensation with a million followers. His posts are meticulously crafted, including professionally produced videos with stirring music and sleek graphics.
In some posts, he stages well-packaged ‘interviews’ featuring industry leaders or “inspiring” individuals. Others showcase him giving rousing speeches or highlighting the values of hard work and determination. A few others are more personal in tone, offering spontaneous glimpses into his conversations with the CM.
One such video from April shows Naveen Patnaik and Pandian sitting close together at a candlelit table in Japan, having a tete-a-tete about their ambitions for the Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel Plant project in Odisha. Pandian prompts Patnaik with various questions about the project, smiling and gazing raptly at the CM as he answers
In another video, Pandian strides in slow motion across a verdant landscape, interspersed with before and after pictures of the Lower Suktel irrigation project. In a voiceover, Pandian extols the project in Odia. The caption, in English, calls the project a “long-standing dream of the people of the drought prone regions of Bolangir and Sonepur”.
Pandian’s Instagram also features temple visits and cultural initiatives, including the Rs 280-crore EKAMRA project for the Lingaraj Temple’s development. Religious iconography and fast-paced spiritual music accompany the glossy visuals.
Last month, he shared an inspirational video about a man who, battling poverty, cleared the NEET exam at the age of 33.
“In 2021 he purchased NCERT books and started preparing for NEET and cleared it this year. He attributes his success to dedicated hard work and strong determination,” wrote Pandian in the caption.
He also pointed out that CM had ordered the government to “bear the cost of his expenses in medical college”.
But several commenters directed their praise to Pandian instead.
“Best IAS officer of Odisha… because of you sir Odisha aaj ek developed state bana hai,” said one.
Another admired Pandian’s Odia: “Even if you are a Tamilian, you’re speaking Odia language pretty good… even better than CM.”
In the local media, too, Pandian is covered like a politician, with headlines like “VK Pandian worships Maa Sarala on day 2 of Jagatsinghpur visit” and “Odisha 5T secretary VK Pandian visits Jajpur, reviews developmental work.”
Many in Odisha believe Pandian is laying the groundwork for a future career in politics, although there has been no official word on this.
“He is already working as the Chief Minister, so he doesn’t need to get into politics. But many people believe that he is positioning himself to enter the political arena,” said the CMO source.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)