Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik turned 78 years old on Monday. Naveen Patnaik 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.
After the demise of his father, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was born on December 26, 1997. And it was Naveen Patnaik who was at the helm. He first became an MP, then a Union Minister and after that assumed the office as the 22nd Chief Minister of Odisha. The party has since been scripting a success story. Be it Panchayat elections, Assembly Elections or General Elections, it is Naveen’s popularity that has been working for the party.
For the first time, Naveen was elected from Aska Lok Sabha seat in Ganjam district. Then he was selected as the Union Minister for mines in the cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Later, he resigned from the cabinet to take oath as the Chief Minister of Odisha. Since then, the BJD has been forming the government on the basis of the majority. In 2009, the BJD managed to grab 103 out of 147 Assembly seats and 14 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats. The same thing was repeated in 2004. The party registered its victory in 117 Assembly seats and 20 Lok Sabha seats. In 2019, the party managed to win 112 and 12 Assembly and Lok Sabha seats respectively.
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