VK Pandian not my successor; people to choose my ‘heir’: Naveen Patnaik

VK Pandian not my successor; people to choose my ‘heir’: Naveen Patnaik

Naveen Patnaik
VK Pandian
Odisha Chief Minister
BJD President

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday clarified that VK Pandian is not his successor and that the people of the state will choose his ‘heir’.

“VK Pandian is not my successor. I have already said that the people of Odisha will choose my successor. There is no confusion in this regard,” Patnaik told reporters here.

Patnaik’s statement comes amid speculation that Pandian, who is the BJD’s Lok Sabha MP from Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, is being groomed to succeed him as the Chief Minister of Odisha.

Pandian, a close aide of Patnaik, was appointed as the BJD’s national general secretary in 2019. He is also the party’s in-charge of several states, including West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam.

Patnaik has been at the helm of affairs in Odisha since 2000. He has led the BJD to victory in five consecutive Assembly elections and two Lok Sabha elections.

The BJD is the ruling party in Odisha. It has a majority in the 147-member state Assembly.