Pandian’s application was cleared with a waiver of the notice period, paving the way for the 2000-batch IAS officer to take a much-anticipated plunge into politics.

In a letter to the Odisha government, the Centre conveyed the approval of acceptance of the voluntary retirement of Pandian “under Rule 16(2A) of the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement benefits) Rules, 1958 with waiver of the notice period as recommended by the state government”.

A Tamilian by birth, the 49-year-old Pandian came to Odisha after his cadre was changed following his marriage to an Odia IAS officer, Sujata Rout. In years that followed, he grew into a trusted confidant of Patnaik.

Soon after winning a record fifth term in 2019 elections, Patnaik had appointed Pandian as the 5T secretary, tasked with bringing about transparency across all government departments.

Besides having a say on all matters of governance, Pandian had also come wield enormous influence on the day-to-day affairs of the ruling Biju Janata Dal.

His involvement in party affairs while being a serving bureaucrat has drawn widespread criticism from opposition parties.

Pandian has, however, brazened out criticism and scrutiny over his supposedly ‘outsized’ influence as the private secretary to Odisha’s longest-serving chief minister.

"He has been a fine civil servant and helped Naveen Patnaik enormously. But it is good that a de facto situation will finally become a de jure one, and Pandian will become a political figure in his own right. It was a strange situation in Odisha for over a decade and a half with the CM being like an absentee landlord and his chief aide functioning as the state's CEO," said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a post on X.