By Our Correspondent
BHUBANE SWAR: Till 1997 and till the end of the funeral ceremony of veteran former CM Biju Patnaik, his younger son, Naveen Patnaik, was then little know face in Odisha. Came Aska by election, people of Odisha, came to know about the younger son of late Biju Babu.
After winning Aska and became MP and Union Minister and then ventured into State politics, elected to Odisha Assembly in 2000 from Hinjili in Ganjam and rest is History for Odisha and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Patnaik, now 76, had entered into politics at the age of 51.
Patnaik on Saturday became second longest serving Chief Minister after Marxists’ veteran late Jyoti Basu of West Bengal , who ruled almost 23 years and 138 days in Writers Building in Kolkata.
With 23 years and 138+ days in office, Patnaik became second longest and next to Pawan Kumar Chamling , former CM of Sikkim , who remained in office for 24 years and 166 days as CM.
Till date, Patnaik remained an unstoppable leader in Odisha Politics and managing the State in a very professional and committed manner with steering development in right direction.
Patnaik’s popularity has overshadowed the political strength of 2 main National Parties like BJP and Congress in Odisha.
The BJD supremo and the party have been receiving thumping support from the people of Odisha with victory in Assembly Polls in 2000, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019.
Patnaik himself has successfully contested the elections from Hinjili constituency five times and elected to the Legislative Assembly.
With the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections a year away, Patnaik has been on a welfare initiative announcement spree. Recently, his government approved the “Ama Odisha, Nabin Odisha (our Odisha, new Odisha)” scheme worth Rs 4,000 crore.
The government on Friday announced the Mission Shakti Scooter Yojana for rural women self-help group (WSHG) members who are known to be the BJD’s loyal support base and a key factor behind its electoral success. More such schemes are likely to be rolled out in the coming months as the BJD prepares to face the challenge of containing the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.
