Former IAS officer Sujata Karthikeyan joins BJD, Naveen says he will lead party in next polls

Former IAS officer Sujata Rout Karthikeyan on Thursday joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), providing a boost to the regional party as it seeks revival path after its electoral setback in 2024.

Welcoming her into the party fold, BJD president Naveen Patnaik said Karthikeyan joined as an ordinary member and expressed confidence that her vast administrative experience would help strengthen the party’s organisational network. “She has joined the party as a common member. She has vast experience as an efficient bureaucrat and she will contribute toward strengthening the BJD’s organisational network,” Patnaik told reporters after formally inducting her into the party.

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The development is significant as it comes when the BJD is attempting to rebuild its organisation following its defeat in the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, which ended the party’s uninterrupted 24-year rule in Odisha.

Speaking to reporters later, Patnaik also put to rest speculation over the party’s future leadership, asserting that he would continue to lead the BJD in the next elections.

Karthikeyan’s entry into politics comes nearly two years after her husband, former IAS officer V.K. Pandian resigned from the civil services and joined the BJD. Pandian emerged as one of the party’s most influential figures and campaigned extensively during the 2024 elections. However, following the party’s electoral debacle, he announced his retirement from active politics.

Despite mounting criticism of Pandian after the defeat, Patnaik had firmly stood by his trusted aide, rejecting attempts to hold the Tamil Nadu-born former bureaucrat responsible for the party’s first electoral loss since its formation in 1997.

Widely regarded as the architect of the expansion of Mission Shakti, Odisha’s flagship women’s empowerment programme, Sujata Karthikeyan is credited for strengthening self-help groups and enhancing women’s economic participation across the state. During her tenure as secretary of the department, she played a key role in transforming the initiative into a mass movement, a contribution often described as a “silent revolution” in women’s empowerment.

Political observers view her induction as a significant addition to the BJD’s ranks as the party prepares for a renewed organisational push under Patnaik’s leadership.