Berhampur: 5T & Nabin Odisha Chairman VK Pandian after joining the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) visited Ganjam district’s presiding deity Maa Taratarini’s shrine on Monday and sought the blessings of the deity.
All MLAs of Ganjam district, BJD’s Organisational Secretary Pranab Prakash Das, Rajya Sabha Member Manas Mangaraj and several BJD party men welcomed Pandian with bouquets at the shrine.
Earlier in the day, Pandian formally joined the BJD in the presence of Chief Minister and party president Naveen Patnaik and other party leaders at Naveen Niwas, the residence of Patnaik.
Pandian had taken voluntary retirement from IAS on October 23, three days after his submission of application with Department of Personnel for retirement. The next day, October 24, he was appointed as Chairman of 5T & Nabin Odisha through a government notification.
The former 2000 batch IAS officer was a powerful bureaucrat. He was known to have a final say in programme implementation pertaining to all departments in his capacity of 5T Secretary.
