Naveen Patnaik

Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian statesman, politician and writer serving as the current and 15 Chief Minister of Odisha representing the Hinjili Assembly constituency since 2000.

He is the longest-serving chief minister of Odisha and as of 2024, one of the longest-serving chief ministers of any Indian state, holding the post for over two decades, and only the second Indian chief Minister after Pawan Chamling to win five consecutive terms as Chief Minister of an Indian state.

Patnaik was born on 16 October 1946 in Cuttack to Biju Patnaik, former Chief Minister of Odisha, and his wife, Gyan Devi.

He was educated at the Welham Boys' School in Dehradun, and later The Doon School.

At Doon, he was a classmate of Sanjay Gandhi and three years junior to Rajiv Gandhi, who later became prime minister.

After school, he went to the Kirori Mal College of Delhi University, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree.

He is the first president of the Biju Janata Dal since 1997.

Patnaik is a writer and had for the most part of his youth been away from both politics and Odisha, but after his father Biju Patnaik's demise, he entered politics in 1997 and the same year founded the Biju Janata Dal, named after Biju Patnaik, which won the state election with the BJP as its alliance and formed the government in which Patnaik became Chief Minister.

His mild mannerism, "Stand against corruption" and "Pro-poor policies" have resulted in the development of a huge support base in Odisha, which has voted him to power in the last five consecutive terms.

Like his father, he has managed to control the bureaucracy and transformed it into a machine for the development of the state.

His spartan personal lifestyle and detachment from material possessions has been liked by the people of the state.

He is also one of the founding members of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.

His elder sister is the writer Gita Mehta.

In December 1997, Naveen split from the Janata Dal and founded the Biju Janata Dal.

The new party was in alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance performed well and Naveen Patnaik was selected the Union Minister for Mines in the cabinet of A. B. Vajpayee.

He served as the Union Minister of Steel and Mines from 1998 to 2000 and a member of the Lok Sabha from Aska from 1997 to 2000.

In the 2000 Assembly election, BJD won the majority of seats in alliance with the BJP in the Odisha Assembly elections, Patnaik resigned from the Union cabinet and was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Odisha.

BJP led NDA lost the general elections in 2004, however, the coalition led by Naveen Patnaik emerged victorious in the state legislative elections and he continued as the Chief Minister.

During this tenure, the friction between the ruling partners was getting more and more apparent, especially after the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in the Kandhamal district of Odisha in 2007–2008 and also the active participation of Bajrang Dal in the riots that hit Kandhamal region.

He did it after severely criticizing BJP's involvement in Kandhamal anti-Christian riots during 2007.

In the run-up to the polls for the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly of Odisha elections in 2009, BJD walked out of the NDA after severing ties with the BJP and joined the nascent Third Front constituted mainly by the Left Front and few regional parties.

The BJD won a resounding victory in both the Vidhan Sabha (State Assembly) as well as the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, winning 14 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats and 103 of the 147 assembly seats and was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Odisha on 21 May 2009 for the third consecutive term.

After the death of his father Biju Patnaik, leader of the Janata Dal, he was elected as a member to the 11th Lok Sabha in the by-election from Aska Parliamentary Constituency in Odisha, India.

He was a member of the Consultative Committee of Ministry of Steel & Mines, Member of Standing Committee on Commerce, and Member Library Committee of Parliament.

Patnaik won a huge victory in both the 2014 Indian general elections and the Legislative Assembly of Odisha elections in 2014.

Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal secured 20 out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats of Odisha and 117 of the 147 Odisha Vidhan Sabha seats.

With a strong BJP wave across the country, the Biju Janata Dal, under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik won as many as 112 seats out of 146 (polls for 1 was deferred) in the Legislative Assembly of Odisha and 12 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 Indian general elections.

Patnaik spent most of his early days away from Odisha, so he has problems with writing and speaking fluently in Odia language.

He is the only chief minister of India who does not speak fluently the regional language of his state and because of this, he has been facing severe criticism from his opponents.

Presently, Patnaik has an adequate working knowledge of Odia and he possesses great mastery over Hindi, French, Punjabi, and English.

At rallies, he delivers Odia speeches written in Roman alphabet.