Another record bites the dust: The longevity of Naveen Patnaik

Patnaik is now only behind Pawan Kumar Chamling, who served as the CM of Sikkim for 24 years and 166 days, from December 12, 1994, to May 27, 2019 — with every chance of being re-elected for the sixth time as the Odisha elections are held in nine months.

What has kept Patnaik in good stead are his government’s “cradle-to-grave” welfare schemes. (Photo/TWITTER/@Naveen_Odisha)

Before he stepped into his father Biju Patnaik’s large shoes, after the legendary leader’s death in April 1997, the Doon School-educated Patnaik was known more for being a regular in New Delhi party circles and for spending much of his time abroad, where he counted among his friends Mick Jagger and ex-US first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Patnaik’s first electoral success was from Aska Lok Sabha seat, which had fallen vacant following Biju Patnaik’s demise, in a by-election, on a Janata Dal (JD) ticket. But within months, Patnaik along with a few other Biju loyalists floated a new regional party and named it Biju Janata Dal (BJD), to capitalize on the huge following the late leader enjoyed.

Even then, few expected that Patnaik, who was attacked by the Opposition for not being able to even speak Odia, would last long. However, consistently, Patnaik defied expectations, and after a brief stint in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre, returned to the state to unseat the Congress. From then to now, the BJD has become one of the country’s most successful regional parties ever.

What has sustained Patnaik’s popularity is that from the earlier “outsider”, he has moulded himself into a man right at home with his people, dressed at all times in a plain kurta-pyjama.
(Photo/TWITTER/@Naveen_Odisha)

Not just that, he still remains “invincible” as far as the state goes, as senior BJD leader and long-time loyalist Prasanna Acharya puts it. Even as regional parties have lost ground to the BJP in other two-party states with the Congress on the decline, the BJD has held its ground.

Acharya says it is unfair to see Patnaik still from the prism of his father. “When he took over the reins of Odisha, the state had been devastated by the super cyclone that hit in October 1999, claiming more than 10,000 lives. The state’s coffers were almost empty and the economy was in a shambles. It was difficult to even pay the salary of government employees. Despite not being an experienced politician at the time, Naveen Babu managed to sail through successfully,” he says.

Patnaik’s gamble of checkmating party rivals by calling elections one year ahead of the end of his first term also paid off, with the 2004 polls held simultaneously with the general elections that year. The NDA, of which the BJD was a partner, got defeated in the India Shining election, but Patnaik-led BJD won in the state. In 2009, Patnaik again took what seemed a big risk and snapped ties with the BJP, but won for a third time.

Before he stepped into his father Biju Patnaik’s large shoes, the Doon School-educated Patnaik was known more for being a regular in New Delhi party circles.
(Photo/TWITTER/@Naveen_Odisha)

In 2012, claiming a coup by one of his closest advisors, Pyarimohan Mohapatra, while he was in London – Patnaik’s first foreign tour in 12 years – the CM got rid of him clinically. If his detractors thought that would leave him vulnerable, along came 2014, and Patnaik was among the few regional satraps to survive the Narendra Modi wave, and return to power in Odisha.

What has sustained Patnaik’s popularity is that from the earlier “outsider”, he has moulded himself into a man right at home with his people, dressed at all times in a plain kurta-pyjama, shunning any ostentatiousness, and remaining above personal controversy.

Even then, few expected that Patnaik, who was attacked by the Opposition for not being able to even speak Odia, would last long. (Photo/TWITTER/@Naveen_Odisha)

A retired bureaucrat, who has worked with Patnaik for years, says: “Simplicity and humility are some things one should learn from the Chief Minister. Unlike other politicians, he is not known for his loud talk and always maintains dignity, which is his biggest asset, and which is why the people of Odisha repose their faith continuously in him. He has friends across the political spectrum.”

Apart from this carefully crafted non-controversial image, what has kept Patnaik in good stead are his government’s “cradle-to-grave” welfare schemes and the BJD’s robust organisation through the length and breadth of Odisha. The schemes have also helped Patnaik create a loyal vote bank of rural women, the elderly and farmers.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik during a one-on-one interview with The Indian Express in his office in Bhubaneswar in 2008. (Express Archives Photo by Partha Paul)

The super cyclone isn’t the only natural calamity Patnaik has withstood either. Unlike other states found wanting, his administration has frequently earned laurels for its handling of disasters, including Phailin in 2013 and Fani in 2019.

Under Patnaik, Odisha has also emerged as a sports hub lately, with the CM who played hockey in his school days identifying the sports as one the state could build on, given its pool of talent. The state has now successfully hosted two successive editions of men’s hockey world cups, in 2018 and 2022, besides a few other international sporting events.

Once, Patnaik was also dubbed by his opponents as “over-dependent” on bureaucrats. While he might have put that behind him, his biggest failing remains the absence of a second-rung leadership in the BJD.

‘After Patnaik, who?’ is a question that is on many lips as another election looms.