Sujata Rout Karthikeyan, a former IAS officer and wife of former IAS VK Pandian, is expected to join BJD on Thursday. Pandian was also a trusted aide of former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The announcement of her joining the regional party is likely to be made in a meeting convened by the party president Naveen Patnaik.
Speculation about her joining the BJD is doing the rounds since Sujata, a 2000 batch IAS officer, took voluntary retirement in March, 2025. Earlier, her husband Pandian had also taken voluntary retirement from service in October 2023 to join BJD.
A senior leader said that her entry into BJD will likely be like giving the reins of the party back into the hands of Pandian again.
He said there was large-scale resentment in the BJD against the manner of Pandian's running of the party affairs, which they alleged led to the debacle of the party in the 2024 elections.
Pandian's continued running of the BJD organisation from behind the scenes has led to large-scale desertion of leaders from all levels.
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