Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government today shifted IAS officer Sujata R. Karthikeyan from the Mission Shakti department following a directive in this regard from the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The 2000-batch IAS officer has been appointed as the Special Secretary to Finance department, said a notification issued by the General Administration department today.

Sujata Karthikeyan was earlier acting as the Commissioner-cum-Secretary to the Mission Shakti department, with additional charge of Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Odia Language Literature and Culture department in the state.

Health and Family Welfare department Commissioner-cum-Secretary Shalini Pandit, a 2001-batch IAS officer, has been given the additional charge of Commissioner-cum-Secretary to both Mission Shakti and Odia Language Literature and Culture departments, added the notification.

Notably, the ECI had ordered the immediate transfer of IAS officer Sujata R. Karthikeyan from the Mission Shakti department to a non-public dealing department yesterday.

The ECI had ordered the transfer of the IAS officer on the basis of a complaint lodged by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha.

In its complaint, the BJP had alleged that Sujata R. Karthikeyan, the wife of bureaucrat-turned-politician VK Pandian, was misusing her position as the Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Mission Shakti department to influence voters for the electoral gains of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha.