Naveen Patnaik
Odisha to the general public in most places , was known for Lord Sri Jagannath, Biju Babu , Kalahandi, And now Naveen Patnaik.All these years, Naveen Patnaik has been the CM of Odisha and attracted good media attention for himself and the state.
People in other states have high regard for CM Naveen Patnaik for his sincere efforts to make the state vibrant and industrially strong.
Early life and education
Naveen Patnaik was born on October 16, 2022 at Anand Bhawan in Cuttack , to Shri Biju Patnaik and Smt Gyan Patnaik, with in months of his birth mother Gyana Devi had to accompany Biju to Indonesia on a screte mission . Baby Naveen was under the care of a maid caretaker.
Naveen Patnaik ‘Pappu’ popularly known amoungst his family members and childhood friend's had schooling for a brief period of at Cuttack’s St.Joseph’s convent , he moved to New Delhi after spending few years at Cuttack .Second son of the pilot parents he went to Welham Boy’s School in Dehradun when he was seven years old. Naveen studied at the The Doon School , Dehradun until he passed out with a senior Cambridge Certificate at the age of 17. He attended Delhi University where he obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Arts.
He excelled in history, oil painting and athletics in school.He was a gifted painter with a deep interest in history and absolutely none in politics,although he belonged to an intensely political family.
At Doon School he was three years junior to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
He went on to Delhi University when he got his Bachalor’s Degree in Arts at the age of 20 years.
Naveen patnaik stay at New delhi , exposed him to the political climate of the country. He had spent most of his time at the residence of pandit Jawaharlal Nehru at teen murta road.
Political career
Early political career
Naveen Patnaik returned from the U.S. upon the death of his father Biju Patnaik and was elected as Member of the 11th Lok Sabha in by-election from Aska Parliamentary Constituency. 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. In 1998 he formed the Biju Janata Dal Party in Orissa and was elected to the 12th Lok Sabha from the Aska Parliamentary constituency. Subsequently he became the Chief Minister of the state in 2000 with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party and has been ruling since. His party was part of the National Democratic Alliance.
A clean image man Naveen Patnaik is the chief minister of Indian state of Orissa since 2009, who is known for making the government transparent and corruption free. A latecomer in politics, his is the only rule, which is not mired with any scandal, severely dogged his previous regimes. Born to the Grand Old Man of Orissa and former chief minister
Naveen Patnaik joined politics in 1996, after the death of his father Biju Patnaik,leader of the Janata Dal and was elected as a member to the 11th Lok Sabha in the by-election from Aska Parliamentary Constituency in Orissa, 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. A year later the Janta Dal split and Naveen founded the Biju Janta Dal which in alliance with the BJP-led NDA performed well and Naveen Patnaik was made the Union Minister for Mines. However, as the BJD won majority of seats in alliance with the BJP in Orissa Assembly elections, Naveen Patnaik resigned from the Union cabinet and was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Orissa in 2000. Naveen Patnaik is widely projected as pro-poor as well as a "clean" and an "honest" person who did not hesitate to sack many political heavyweights on charges of corruption.
All this lead to the rise in the popularity of Naveen Patnaik and the BJD, the NDA was again victorious in 2004 and Naveen Patnaik continued as the Chief Minister but the friction between the ruling partners, the BJD and the BJP was getting more and more apparent,especially after the communal violence in Kandhamal district of Orissa in 2007-2008. The carnage against Christians carried on in the district was seen as the handiwork of the Sangh Parivar and Naveen Patnaik was distancing himself to protect his secular image. He further ordered arrests of VHP, Bajrang Dal, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashrams activists and called Bajrang Dal a "fundamentalist organization" infuriating the Sangh Parivar of which the BJP is the predominant constituent. The hardliners in the BJP slammed the BJD of not doing enough to arrest the killers of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati or stop "illegal religious conversions".
In the run-up to the polls for the Lok Sabha and Orissa Vidhan Sabha elections in 2009, BJD walked out of the NDA and joined the nascent Third Front constituted mainly by the Left Front and few regional parties. The BJP accused Naveen Patnaik of betraying them but he has in recent interviews said that Kandhamal violence was an eye-opener for him and he would never tie up with the BJP ever again.
The BJD won a resounding victory in both the Vidhan Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, bagging 14 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats and 103 of the 147 assembly seats and was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Orissa on May 21st 2009 for the third consecutive term.
Naveen Patnaik is also a founder member of the Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
He has authored three books:
A Second Paradise: Indian Country Life 1590-1947,
A Desert Kingdom: The people of Bikaner and the Garden of Life:
An introduction to the Healing Plants of India, each one published in India, England and U.S..