Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik has dismissed speculations about his close aide, VK Pandian, being his political successor. In an interview with news agency ANI, Patnaik stated, “He is not my successor. I see all of this as exaggeration and falsehood.”
Patnaik emphasized that VK Pandian is not contesting in either the Lok Sabha or state Assembly elections. His response came when asked about the succession plan for the BJD, which Patnaik founded in December 1997 as a breakaway faction from the Janata Dal.
“I have said this repeatedly: the successor (of the party) will be decided by the people of the state. That is the natural result of these things,” Patnaik reiterated. “The party is being run for the service of the people of Odisha and will continue to do so,” he added.
VK Pandian, a former bureaucrat, took voluntary retirement from the Indian Civil Services on October 23 last year and joined the BJD on November 27. Prior to this, he served as the private secretary to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for 12 years.