Naveen Patnaik -Iconic leader
Rameez Makhdoomi & Farzana Mumtaz
Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an prominent politician of India serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is among the iconic leaders of India. He is also the President of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief minister of Odisha and as of 2023, one of the longest-serving chief ministers of any Indian state, holding the post for over two decades, and only the third Indian chief Minister after Pawan Chamling and Jyoti Basu to win five consecutive terms as Chief Minister of an Indian state.
He is Chief Minister of Odhisa since 23 years and destined to be longest Chief Minister of India.
His life is full of accolades and noteworthy accomplishments which make him one of the tallest figures of India.
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 St. Stephen’s College of Delhi University, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Naveen Patnaik is iron man of Odhisa and India. He has also an intellectual mind of par excellence.
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 a year later 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 Honest, dedicated 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.
Undoubtedly, Naveen Patnaik is towering personality of India under whose leadership Odhisa has transformed into oasis of development.
Under his great leadership,
each one of the 4.5 crore Odias is the catalyst of change.
Naveen Patnaik is synonym of progress and prosperity.
Hosting of the prestigious Men’s Hockey World Cup in Odisha for the second time, industrialisation and attracting investment, growth of self-help groups, ST transformation, Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, KALIA, Millet mission and other initiatives of the state government under great leadership of Naveen Patnaik are applauded by one and all.
He has bagged prestigious awards and global recognitions. The United Nations in 2019, complimented Naveen for his government’s proposal of reserving 33% of seats for women in the National Parliament as well as in the state’s Legislative Assembly.
Naveen Patnaik is undoubtedly the precious diamond of Indian politics.
