Right in the peak of Durga Puja celebrations on Sunday evening, news broke that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s trusted lieutenant and private secretary of 12 years VK Pandian has taken voluntary retirement. The very next day, he was appointed as Chairman of 5T Initiatives and Nabin Odisha in the rank of a Cabinet minister.
What followed was a bevy of political activity and reaction in the midst of the year’s most awaited festival when too little is actually wanted and awaited. Not that it came as a bolt from the blue but the timing and speed at which it happened left political parties and pundits scrambling.
Between 1997, when he emerged on the muddled political landscape of India as a reluctant leader saddled with the weighty legacy of his legendary father, and 26 years hence, one thing the Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo has not lost one bit is his ability to deliver surprises without much ado.
This decision does not just bear his stamp, it goes well beyond. With the 2024 elections closing in, Naveen has once again stumped his political opponents in the state. That Pandian had acquired the all-powerful status in the current dispensation was not lost on anyone, but the Opposition had been increasingly gunning for him in the run up to the polls and even dared him to quit as IAS and join politics. The challenge was accepted.
Naveen enjoys an excellent relationship with the Narendra Modi-led NDA is no secret but the lightning quick speed with which his private secretary’s VRS application was processed has left Opposition parties - BJP in particular - speechless. If sources are to be believed, Pandian’s request was cleared in just one day at the highest level which speaks volumes about the great coordination he has with the BJP government at the Centre. The canny political maneuver of Naveen has taken the wind out of the sail of the principal opponent BJP which ahead of the big polls targeted him on multiple fronts by attacking Pandian.
Even as speculation about the former IAS officer assuming a greater political new role gathers momentum, Naveen in his own quiet way seems to have dropped huge hints about his future course of action. The saffron outfit has frequently flagged the BJD supremo’s advanced age and health as part of its narrative against the regional party. On many occasions, he has been accused of receding to the backstage which political observers pointed out could work against BJD in the next elections.However, Naveen by his astute measure has clearly indicated that BJD is here to stay and he has long-term plans up his sleeve for the party he founded 26 years back.
On the hindsight, Pandian’s blistering district visits in the last four months appears to be part of the strategy as he not only travelled across the state but also received validation a leader must acquire from voters. The Opposition may call it orchestrated but it cannot just wish away the fact that it has generated the buzz the party wanted to create around him, mostly among the young generation which is going to be key in the coming years. Pandian as Naveen’s official representative has had both the party and the administrative machinery looking up to him and now seems ready to chart a new course.
Timing and purposefulness have always been the best weapons in Naveen’s armoury. Be it dumping BJP just ahead of 2009 elections, dropping colleagues with doubtful integrity on more occasions than one or even backing Droupadi Murmu as Presidential candidate even before the saffron party officially seeking his support, he has always had a greater sense of anticipation in the political game.This time, he seems to have given clear signals that the baton is ready to be passed.