Bhubaneswar, June 7: Senior IAS officer Sujata Rout Karthikeyan, Special Secretary of Finance Department to Government of Odisha, has been granted a leave for six months, officials said on Friday.

According to a notification issued by the General Administration and Public Grievance Department, Sujata R Karthikeyan, a 2000-batch IAS officer, has been granted ‘Child Care’ leave for a period of 6 months from May 31 to November 26 to take care of her minor daughter, appearing for the Class X exams.

On May 3, Odisha government transferred and posted as Special Secretary in the Finance Department after the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) directive following BJP’s complaint against her for allegedly operating as an agent of the ruling BJD in the twin polls in the state.

Earlier, Sujata held the post of Secretary, Department of Mission Shakti with an additional charge of Secretary, Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department.

Sujata is the wife of former IAS officer and BJD leader V K Pandian, who joined politics after taking voluntary retirement from All India Civil Services in October 2023.

The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, however, faced a shocking defeat in the 2024 general elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 78 seats in the 147-member Assembly, ending Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Naveen Patnaik's 24-year stint in the state. BJD won 51 seats, Congress won 14, CPI(M) won one seat and Independents secured three seats.

The saffron party also won 20 out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. While the Congress won one seat in the State and BJD failed to open an account in the Lok Sabha polls.